Variable Blood Pressure Linked to Acute Cardiovascular Risks

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health recently found that for hypertensive men and women, greater blood pressure variability from doctor visit to visit was associated with higher risks of acute cardiovascular events — including stroke and death. When comparing the highest versus the lowest levels of between-visit variability in systolic blood pressure readings, there were greater risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, hospitalization for heart failure and all-cause death through a maximum of 5.7 years of follow-up. “The key thing is that blood pressure variability has been known about for a long time, but it’s just been ignored as a challenge to properly measuring blood pressure,” said one of the study’s authors. “The big question now that remains is whether reducing blood pressure variability can reduce an individual’s risk for developing a cardiovascular disease event or dying.” To explore the relationship between visit-to-visit blood-pressure variability, researchers examined data which involved more than 42,000 participants. To read more about this study, click here.