“In our older population, we also observed that the class with a high mid-life blood pressure had the highest risk of stroke and death, compared to the class with the lowest blood pressure,” Dr. Ikram and colleagues said. “However, a novel finding of our study is that the slope of increase was associated with an increasing risk of stroke and competing causes of death. Namely, we identified two classes characterized by equally low baseline blood pressure and increasing trajectories, but only the class characterized by steep increases had a high risk of stroke and death. Of note, the risks in that class were even similar to the class with a high mid-life blood pressure.”
The large study population, the use of repeated measures of blood pressure over a long follow-up, and thorough collection of stroke assessments were among the study’s strengths. The study was not large enough to examine stroke subtypes, the authors said. In addition, the study’s population was geographically limited and mostly white, although the findings likely apply to people from other communities, Dr. Ikram said.
“Blood pressure should be measured regularly because it can change markedly over the course of a couple years and put you at high risk for an adverse event,” said Dr. Ikram. “Since the risks of stroke and death differ across these trajectory paths, they are potentially important for preventive strategies.”
—Jake Remaly
