A new study from Tulane University shows that people with high blood pressure can reduce — and possibly eliminate — their risk of dying early by taking care of several key health factors.
The study, published in the journal Precision Clinical Medicine, followed over 70,000 people with high blood pressure (also called hypertension) and more than 224,000 people without it. Participants were tracked for nearly 14 years using data from the UK Biobank.
The researchers looked at eight health risk factors: blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), waist size, LDL or “bad” cholesterol, blood sugar, kidney function, smoking, and physical activity.
They found that people with high blood pressure who managed at least four of these factors had no higher risk of dying before age 80 than people without high blood pressure.
According to Dr. Lu Qi, the lead author of the study and professor at Tulane University, treating high blood pressure alone is not enough. “High blood pressure can affect other parts of the body, so it’s important to address all the risk factors together,” he said.
Hypertension is defined as having a blood pressure of 130 mmHg or higher. It is a major cause of early death worldwide. But this study shows that making improvements in other areas of health can make a big difference.
For every extra risk factor that was under control, the chances of early death went down by 13%. The risk of dying early from cancer dropped by 12%, and the risk of dying from heart disease dropped by 21%.
The best outcomes were seen in people who had seven or more of the eight risk factors under control. These people had a 40% lower risk of early death overall, a 39% lower risk of dying from cancer, and a 53% lower risk of dying from heart disease.
This is the first study to look at how controlling multiple risk factors at the same time can affect early death in people with high blood pressure. The results are encouraging because they show that it is possible to cancel out the extra risk linked to high blood pressure.
However, only 7% of the people with high blood pressure in the study had seven or more risk factors under control. This highlights a big opportunity to improve prevention.
The researchers say doctors should go beyond simply prescribing medication and take a broader approach that includes changes in diet, exercise, quitting smoking, and other healthy habits.
In short, this study suggests that managing high blood pressure is just one part of the puzzle. By also keeping other health factors in check, people with hypertension can live longer, healthier lives.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about breakfast for better blood pressure management, and the gut feeling that lowers blood pressure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how the dash diet helps lower blood pressure, and how to eat your way to healthy blood pressure.
The study is published in Precision Clinical Medicine.
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