Nearly 1 in 3 have high blood pressure, study says

DALLAS – As Americans get older and fatter, the number of adults with high blood pressure has climbed to almost one in three over the past decade, putting more people at risk of a stroke, heart attack or kidney failure, government researchers said Monday.

A little more than a decade ago, the number was percentage points lower. And two decades ago, it was falling. But then came the obesity surge in the late 1980s.

About 65 million American adults now have high blood pressure – 30 percent more than the 50 million who did in the previous decade, according to the report in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The report, based on an analysis of Census Bureau and health statistics, did not specifically examine reasons for the spike, but experts said the aging U.S. population and the growing proportion of overweight and obese Americans are probably major contributors.

The risk of hypertension, or high blood pressure, is increased by old age, excess weight and lack of physical activity. High blood pressure is defined as 140 over 90 or higher. Blood pressure less than 120 over 80 is generally considered ideal. People in between these categories are called pre-hypertensive.

The new figures are from Census data and a 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included 4,531 adults. It estimates that 31.3 percent of Americans have high blood pressure, up from 28.9 percent in the previous national health report from 1988-94.

Dr. Jeffrey Cutler, senior scientific adviser at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said that between 1980 and 1990 the prevalence of high blood pressure was decreasing, but that was before the obesity surge of the late 1980s.

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