Could High Blood Pressure be More Dangerous for Women than Men?

A recent study shows how high blood pressure may be potentially more dangerous for women than men.

According to scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, they found significant differences in the mechanisms that create high blood pressure between the opposite sex.

"The medical community thought that high blood pressure was the same for both sexes and treatment was based on that premise," said Carlos Ferrario, M.D., professor of surgery at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study, according to a press release. "This is the first study to consider sex as an element in the selection of antihypertensive agents or base the choice of a specific drug on the various factors accounting for the elevation in blood pressure."

Researchers note that though there has been a decline in cardiovascular disease mortality in men over the last few decades, the same is unfortunately not true for women. In fact, more than one third of all deaths in the United States are for the female population are due to this health issue, according to background information from the study.

For their study, researchers looked at 100 men and women age 53 and older that had untreated high blood pressure with no other major diseases. All of them were evaluated using various tests that measured the forces involved in the circulation of blood and hormonal characteristics of the mechanisms involved in the development of high blood pressure.

Study findings showed that 30 to 40 percent more vascular disease occurred in women compared to men with the same levels of elevated blood pressure. There were also significant physiologic differences in women's cardiovascular system health.

"Our study findings suggest a need to better understand the female sex-specific underpinnings of the hypertensive processes to tailor optimal treatments for this vulnerable population," Ferrario said, via the release. "We need to evaluate new protocols - what drugs, in what combination and in what dosage - to treat women with high blood pressure."

More information regarding the study can be found via Therapeutic Advances in Cardiovascular Disease.