Are Young People Ignoring High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure is defined as 140/90 or higher by the American Heart Association. It can lead to serious health issues like heart attacks and strokes. A study, which took place between 1999 and 2014 and included information from eight surveys, had 41,000 Americans participate. The survey asks the participants about how aware they were of high blood pressure and the treatment of it. Despite its many risks,the new study found that high blood pressure is not much of a concern for young American people compared to their 40+ counterparts.

Young Men and High Blood Pressure

The study’s finding show that only half of the 6.7 million young people that had high blood pressure got treatment between 2013 and 2014. Additionally, only 40% of that population managed to get their blood pressure under control.Young men are especially not concerned with high blood pressure. Compared to 86% of young women who were aware they had high blood pressure, only 68% men were aware. This gap was just as wide for seeking treatment; 44% of men compared to 61% of women sought treatment for their high blood pressure. Additionally, 34% of men compared to 52% of women got their blood pressure under control.

Dr. Andrew Moran is one of the study’s senior study author and a Columbia University Medical Center assistant professor in New York. Moran comments that since the early 2000s, hypertension (high blood pressure)awareness, treatment, and control has improved overall but still remain the worse among young people. Columbia University Medical Center associate research scientist and study lead author, Yiyi Zhang states that the study highlights the lack of screenings for and management of high blood pressure among the young people. It especially highlights this for young adult men. Additionally, researchers found prehypertension, the risk of developing high blood pressure, was higher in young men. Blood pressure readings that indicate hypertension include the top, or systolic, number between 120 to 139 and the lower, or diastolic, number between 80 to 89. Hypertension was found in 34% of men compared to the 13% of women in the study.

The study also brought to light the probability of obesity among young adults. Young people who suffered from high blood pressure were more likely to be obese, a weight class above overweight, than their older counterparts. Compared to 57% of middle-aged and 42% older people with high blood pressure that were classified as obese, 75% of young people fell into the same category.

The study’s finding, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, were published Aug. 28 in the journal Hypertension. "Hurricane Resources:." High Blood Pressure or Hypertension. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2017.