High Blood Pressure: Fast Facts
Reviewed By:
Abdou Elhendy, MD, PhD, FACC, FAHA
- Until age 55, more men than women have high blood pressure, but
the numbers begin to even out until, beyond age 74, significantly
more women than men have high blood pressure.
- Untreated, high blood pressure will cause the heart to overwork
itself to the point where, eventually, serious damage can
occur.
- High blood pressure is present in about half of people having
first-time heart attacks and two-thirds of those having first-time
strokes.
- More than 50 million people in the United States over age six
(and one in four adults) have high blood pressure.
- Forty-five million Americans (22 percent of adults) have
prehypertension, blood pressure that is on the borderline between
normal and elevated.
- Nearly a third (30 percent) of people with high blood pressure
don't know they have it. Another 36 percent either aren't on
medication or don't have their blood pressure adequately
controlled.
- The majority of people with mild to moderate high blood
pressure do not have any noticeable symptoms.
- One in three cases of heart failure in women results from high
blood pressure.
- Blood pressure tends to get higher as women age. More than half
of women over age 50 suffer from high blood pressure.
- High blood pressure is two to three times more common in women
taking birth control pills than those not taking them. The risk is
especially high in women who take the pill and are overweight or
obese.
- Women who have had a heart attack are less likely to experience
a second one if they lower their blood pressure.
- During pregnancy, some women may develop high blood pressure
even if they have never had the condition before. This gestational
hypertension has been shown to increase the risk of high blood
pressure and stroke later on in life. Some women who already have
high blood pressure may see it worsen during pregnancy. Also,
preeclampsia, a condition related to high blood pressure and the
presence of protein in a pregnant woman's urine, is the second
leading cause of maternal death in the United States.
- Sexual dysfunction in women may be linked to high blood
pressure. Female patients are encouraged to discuss any sexual
difficulties with their physicians.
- The prevalence of high blood pressure among African-Americans
is the highest in the world. Black women are especially prone to
high blood pressure. They have an 85 percent higher rate of medical
care visits for high blood pressure than white women.
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