Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps.
If this pressure stays too high for a long time, it can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and kidney disease. Doctors usually focus on a person’s average blood pressure to decide whether treatment is needed.
However, new research suggests there is another warning sign that should not be ignored.
Scientists found that large changes in blood pressure during young adulthood may raise the risk of developing heart disease later in life, even if a person’s average blood pressure remains within the normal range.
The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and published in JAMA Cardiology.
The researchers used information from a long-running health study that followed thousands of young adults for about 30 years.
Nearly half of the participants were African American, and more than half were women. Their blood pressure was measured regularly during the first 10 years, and their health was tracked for another 20 years.
The team focused on systolic blood pressure, which is the top number in a blood pressure reading. This number measures the pressure inside the arteries when the heart beats. A systolic reading of 130 mmHg or higher is generally considered high.
During the study, some participants developed serious heart problems, including heart disease, heart failure, stroke, or needed procedures to open blocked arteries. Some participants also died during the follow-up period. The researchers compared these health outcomes with changes in blood pressure over time.
They found that even a small increase in systolic blood pressure during young adulthood was linked to a 15 percent higher risk of future heart disease. This increased risk remained even after taking average blood pressure into account. The findings suggest that changes in blood pressure over time may provide important information that average readings alone cannot show.
This research could change the way doctors think about blood pressure in younger people. Current medical guidelines mainly rely on average blood pressure measurements when deciding whether someone needs treatment. The new findings suggest that tracking blood pressure changes over several years may help identify people at higher risk much earlier.
Although more research is needed, the results highlight the importance of regular blood pressure checks throughout adulthood. Healthy habits such as eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, limiting alcohol, avoiding smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight can all help keep blood pressure under control and protect heart health.
The researchers hope their findings will lead to better ways of preventing heart disease before symptoms appear. Paying attention to how blood pressure changes over time, instead of looking only at a single average number, may help more people stay healthy as they age.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
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.
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