High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a health problem that affects many people all over the world.
It happens when the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries is too strong for a long time.
This may not seem serious at first, but over time, it can cause big problems like heart attacks, strokes, or even death.
In Sweden, more than one in four adults have high blood pressure. This shows just how common and serious it is.
To understand this condition better, scientists from the University of Gothenburg did several studies. They wanted to learn more about how high blood pressure affects people’s health and what could be done to help.
In one study, they looked at older adults who had high blood pressure but had never had a heart attack or stroke before. They studied how different levels of blood pressure affected their chances of getting these serious problems. The scientists focused on systolic blood pressure, which is the pressure when your heart beats.
They found that people who kept their systolic pressure below 130 had a 40% lower chance of getting a heart attack or stroke compared to those with levels between 130 and 139. This means keeping your blood pressure lower could really help protect your heart and brain.
In another study, they looked at people who had a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. This condition causes the heart to beat irregularly and raises the chance of blood clots and stroke. These patients were already taking blood-thinning medicine, but their blood pressure still mattered a lot.
If their systolic pressure was between 140 and 179, their risk of having a bleeding stroke doubled compared to those with slightly lower pressure (130–139). So again, keeping blood pressure in check made a big difference.
A third study looked at more than 250,000 people with high blood pressure. The results were shocking. Nine out of ten had other problems too—like high cholesterol or smoking habits—or their blood pressure was not under control. These things together made their risk of heart attack, stroke, or early death even higher.
What do all these studies show? That many people with high blood pressure are not getting the treatment they need. Whether it’s medicine, eating better, moving more, or quitting smoking, there are many ways to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Doing so can help people live longer, healthier lives.
Doctors and health experts believe it’s very important to treat high blood pressure the right way. It’s one of the best things people can do to stay healthy and avoid deadly diseases. With better care and more action, we can stop hypertension from being a silent threat in people’s lives.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about the arm squeeze test: could your blood pressure reading be wrong and bedtime medication more effective for high blood pressure.
For more about blood pressure, please read studies about Scientists find link between high blood pressure drugs and this skin disease and common high blood pressure medication may not be the best choice.
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