New cause of heart attacks and strokes identified

Researchers and doctors have long known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for strokes and heart attacks. But recent discoveries have forced the scientific world to look at this relationship from a new angle.

Blood pressure: what you need to know about it

Before proceeding to the discovery of scientists, it is worth recalling that blood pressure (BP) has two indicators:

• systolic;
• diastolic.

Systolic pressure (BP), also known as the upper systolic pressure, is an indicator of the pressure with which the blood acts on the walls of the arteries during the contraction of the heart muscle. Diastolic pressure (DD), or lower, is the force exerted on the vessels between heartbeats.

Systolic blood pressure is considered elevated if it is over 130 mm Hg. Art. and higher. The diastolic norm is 80. However, depending on the characteristics of the body, these indicators may fluctuate somewhat. When the upper pressure indicators consistently reach 130-139 mm Hg. Art., and the lower one – above 80 and up to 89, they talk about hypertension, which should already be treated. Even slight deviations from the norm indicate that during the pumping of blood through the body, the heart experiences an increased load.

What scientists have found

A group of scientists, who also included Donald Lloyd-Jones, chair of the department of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University Chicago, set out to study whether blood pressure, systolic or diastolic, had a greater influence on the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases in future ^[1].

The study was based on a Korean database that contained information on the health status of more than 6 million people aged 20 to 39 who took antihypertensive drugs during 2003-2007. The scientists then analyzed what risks these people were exposed to 13 years after the survey.

It turned out that in people with diabetes in the range of 130-139 mm Hg. Art. the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, heart failure or death as a result of a cardiac disorder is increased by 36%. For persons whose DD exceeds 80 and reaches 89, the risk of getting sick increases by 32%. If both indicators exceed the norm, the risk of cardiac diseases increases by 67% ^[2].

The discovery sparked debate in the scientific world, as diastolic blood pressure had previously been overlooked as a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes in young patients. In addition, according to Dr. Joseph Flynn, professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, this study filled gaps in knowledge about hypertension and the effects of high blood pressure in younger patients. ^[1]. Previously, the possible consequences of hypertension were considered mainly on the examples of middle-aged and elderly patients. In addition, Dr. Flynn drew attention to the fact that only 40% of the participants in the experiment had normal blood pressure, which is also a very disappointing sign.

Another large-scale study was conducted a little earlier by specialists from the American medical center Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. Scientists during 2007-2016 studied blood pressure indicators in 1,3 million patients. As a result, experts came to the conclusion that the risk of heart attack and stroke is affected by both upper (systolic) and lower (diastolic) blood pressure. It used to be considered that the diastolic indicator does not have such an important influence on increasing the risk of developing deadly heart diseases. ^[3].

A XNUMX-year study found that high diastolic blood pressure increased the likelihood of serious heart problems with poor outcomes.

Discussions on this topic are ongoing, but new discoveries have given impetus to further research. Perhaps soon scientists will be able to discover other interesting discoveries.

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