High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a common health problem that affects millions of people in the United States and around the world.
It means that the pressure of the blood pushing against the walls of your arteries is too high, which can damage the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and brain over time. If not treated, high blood pressure can lead to serious health issues like heart attacks, strokes, and kidney failure.
There are many ways to treat high blood pressure, such as taking medication, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly. However, for some people, their blood pressure stays high even when they do all the right things. This ongoing problem is known as persistent hypertension.
Persistent hypertension happens when someone’s blood pressure remains high over time, despite getting treatment. A group of researchers from Yale School of Medicine wanted to understand why this happens to some patients.
They looked at records from people who received care at the Yale New Haven Health System between 2013 and 2018. They focused on patients who had five or more doctor visits in a row where their blood pressure was still too high.
What the researchers found was surprising. Not all of these patients had what doctors call “treatment-resistant hypertension”—a condition where medications simply don’t work well enough because of other health problems.
Instead, many people had high blood pressure because of other reasons, such as not having the right diagnosis, not receiving the best type of treatment, not taking medications properly, or missing doctor appointments. Some people also had trouble getting medical care because of money problems or lack of transportation.
To help with this, the Yale researchers created a new system called a “taxonomy.” This is a way to group patients based on the reasons why their blood pressure stays high. Once the problem is identified, the patient can get the kind of support that best fits their needs.
For example, someone who can’t afford medication might be connected with a social worker who can help them find cheaper options. Another person might need stronger or different types of blood pressure drugs.
The researchers also want to make this system automatic. They are using artificial intelligence, including machine learning and natural language processing, to create tools that work inside electronic medical records. These tools can help doctors quickly figure out what kind of help each patient needs and offer the right support at the right time.
They plan to test this idea first at the Yale New Haven Health System. Their first goal is to help more than 40,000 people who work at the hospital or are family members of employees. This group includes people of different ages, backgrounds, and health needs, which makes it a good test case for the new system.
The team hopes that if this system works well, it could be used in other hospitals too. In the future, they believe the same approach could also help with other long-term health problems like diabetes.
This new method could be especially helpful for people who are doing their best to manage their high blood pressure but still struggle because of things outside their control. It also shows how important it is to look at the whole picture when treating a health problem—not just giving out medicine, but also making sure people can actually follow their treatment plans.
If you’re trying to manage high blood pressure, it’s important to work closely with your doctor. Simple steps like eating healthy foods, being active, cutting back on salt and alcohol, and avoiding smoking can make a big difference. Sometimes, medication is also needed to keep blood pressure in a safe range.
People should also be careful about what they eat and use. For example, black licorice and marijuana have both been linked to higher blood pressure and even serious health risks. On the other hand, some foods like olive oil may help lower blood pressure, especially in people who are otherwise healthy.
The study mentioned in this article was led by Dr. Yuan Lu and her team and was published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that drinking tea could help lower blood pressure, and early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
