Most older patients with high blood pressure have higher than normal readings of systolic or upper pressure but normal lower or diastolic readings, a UC Irvine College of Medicine study has found. The findings challenge assumptions that high diastolic pressure is the more pervasive problem among people with high blood pressure. Dr. Stanley S. Franklin, professor of medicine, led a research team that found that 80 percent of participants age 50 or older who had high blood pressure, or hypertension, had systolic readings that were higher than normal but didn't have high diastolic readings. Our data show that physicians need to pay closer attention to systolic blood pressure when treating patients for hypertension. Hypertension affects as many as 50 million Americans, and the American Heart Association estimates that less than one third of those with the disorder have it properly controlled.
Hypertension is considered a major risk factor for heart and kidney disease and stroke.
Franklin's team analyzed blood pressure data on nearly 20,000 patients who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which was conducted by the National Institutes of Health from 1988 to 1994. They found that 24 percent of the survey's participants had hypertension, regardless of whether they were being treated for it. Of the participants with hypertension, more than three-quarters were 50 or older. Normal blood pressure is considered to be less than 140 millimeters over 90 millimeters when measured with a blood pressure device. The researchers found that among participants aged 50 and older, about 80 percent had systolic blood pressure higher than 140 but had diastolic pressures below 90.