Study: High blood pressure in young adults alarming

Study: Level of high blood pressure in young adults alarming

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Nearly one in five young adults suffer from high blood pressure according to a new study from scientists at the University of North Carolina.

The Carolina study’s findings differ are in sharp contrast to a federal government study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that suggested only 4 percent of young adults might have high blood pressure.

“The findings are significant because they indicate that many young adults are at risk of developing heart disease, but are unaware that they have hypertension,” said Quynh Nguyen, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 20% figure measuring high blood pressure in young adults is unusual because this demographic is generally seen as fit and healthy.

“We tend to think of them as a rather healthy group”, said Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, interim director of the university’s Carolina Population Center in Chapel Hill

“A prevalence of 19% with hypertension is alarming”.

The researchers did not study why the numbers may be rising or relate the findings to U.S. intake of sodium, a major contributor to high blood pressure.

U.S. health officials say the study is a worrisome signal, but are cautious to embrace the new findings until they have been confirmed in other studies.

For the study, the team analyzed data on more than 14,000 men and women between 24 and 32 years old in 2008 from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, known as Add Health, funded by the National Institutes of Health.

They found 19 percent had elevated blood pressure, and only about half of these individuals had ever been told by their doctor that they had the condition.

Sources