PreventDisease.com - Teens' Blood Pressure Predicts Heart Disease Risk



		Teens' Blood Pressure Predicts Heart Disease Risk Excerpt By Bruce Dixon, Reuters Health CHICAGO (Reuters Health) - New study findings suggest that high blood pressure and overweight in adolescence are two of the most important early risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis in adulthood. Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, occurs when fatty deposits build up inside the blood vessels, restricting blood flow. The findings were presented here at the Annual Fall Conference of the American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research. Physicians at University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, studied 750 men and women aged 27 to 30 who were chosen from the general population. To gauge whether they had atherosclerosis, ultrasound was used to measure the thickness of the walls of their carotid arteries, which are the two main blood vessels leading to the brain. These measurements were then compared to each individual's childhood blood pressures. The higher their blood pressure at age 13, the thicker the artery walls at age 30, according to Dr. Lydia E. Vos. ``With every 10 millimeters of mercury elevation in blood pressure, the vessels are going to be thicker by almost 7 micrometers,'' Vos said. ``The average thickness in the general population is about 500 micrometers.'' Vos noted that the relationship between childhood blood pressure and arterial thickening appears to be stronger in women than in men. She believes this may be due to women's earlier physical maturity. When body mass index, a measurement based on weight and height, was put into the equation, it was clear that increased weight worsened the effects of high blood pressure, Vos explained. ``Thirty percent of the magnitude of the association between raised blood pressure and arterial thickening is due to increased body mass index. The implication would be that preventing high body mass index would prevent an elevation of blood pressure and subsequently would prevent vessel damage,'' she said. The researcher offers this advice to young people: Watch your blood pressure and your weight. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".