Study Links Pre-High Blood Pressure to an Increased Risk of Stroke

A study reveals that people having blood pressure slightly above the normal level may suffer from an increased risk of stroke.  

High blood pressure is known to be one of the major risk factor for stroke as well as heart diseases. But a new meta-analysis of studies on the subject claims that if a person has blood pressure that is slightly above the normal reading of 120/80 mmHg  he/she may suffer an increased risk of stroke.

In this meta-analysis, the researchers examined the data available on the risk of developing stroke in those with hypertension or those with blood pressure that was higher than the optimal but lower than the high blood pressure threshold of  140/90 mmHg.

The analysis included over 19 cohort studies and more than 760,000 participants. The subjects were followed from four to 36 years. Out of the total number of participants, nearly 25-54 percent suffered from pre-high blood pressure.

On analyzing the data the researchers observed that subjects who had pre-high blood pressure were over 66 percent more vulnerable to develop stroke compared to people with normal blood pressure.

Even after considering certain factors such as high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking, the researchers noticed the same result.  The researchers also determined that nearly 20 percent of the subjects suffered a stroke due to pre-high blood pressure.

The analysis further divided the subjects suffering with prehypertension into high and low groups, with blood pressure above 130/85 in the high range.  The researchers noticed that the risk of stroke was high in those who belonged to the high range group compared to those in the low range group.

Subjects falling in the high range group were nearly 95 percent more likely to develop stroke compared to those with normal blood pressure. And people belonging to the low range group were 44 percent likely to develop a stroke.

"These findings, if confirmed, have important takeaways for the public," said study author Dingli Xu, MD, of Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China. "Considering the high proportion of the population who have higher than normal blood pressure, successful treatment of this condition could prevent many strokes and make a major difference in public health."

One of the common and dangerous health conditions is high blood pressure and it is often called as the silent killer. It occurs without any warning and symptoms. Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults suffer with high blood pressure and only 47 percent of them have the condition under control. It is listed as the third leading cause of death in the U.S., reports according to CDC.

For those with pre-high blood pressure, currently there is no medication recommended and not many studies have been done on the safety and effectiveness of the condition.

"Prehypertension should be managed with changes in diet and exercise to help reduce the risk of stroke," Xu said. "More research should be done on using blood pressure drugs for people with prehypertension."

The finding was published in the journal Neurology.