Women over 45 need regular blood pressure checks

Women aged 45 or over should have their blood pressure checked on a regular basis, because there’s a good chance they’ll develop high blood pressure, or hypertension, according to research by D Conen and others,  reported in the British Medical Journal.

And what was once considered within the normal blood pressure range can indicate a greater risk of a heart attack or stroke.

These conclusions come from a 10-year follow-up of 40,000 women whose blood pressure was divided into four categories: optimal (which was less than 120 over 75), normal (which was up to 129 on 84), high normal (which was up to 139 on 89), and high blood pressure, which was above that.

One in three of these women developed hypertension over the decade, but the chances varied according to their blood pressure at the start. Compared to women with normal blood pressure, those with high normal had a 60% greater chance of developing hypertension and a 40% increased risk of a heart attack or stroke. In fact they weren’t too different from women who had hypertension to begin with.

It means that women with high normal blood pressure need to look at blood pressure reducing measures such as weight loss, exercise, and reducing alcohol and probably salt intake.

There isn’t a lot of evidence to support the use of medications unless a person already has diabetes or signs of heart disease.