(WebMD) — Having high blood pressure in middle age is a major risk factor for developing atrial fibrillation later in life, and now new research links high-normal-range blood pressure with an increase in risk.
More than 2 million mostly older Americans have the heart rhythm disorder known as atrial fibrillation, which greatly increases their risk for stroke, heart failure, and death.
Researchers followed about 2,000 Norwegian men for an average of 30 years, during which time 270 developed atrial fibrillation.
Men whose systolic blood pressure (the upper number) was in the high-normal range at the start of the study were 50% more likely than men with normal blood pressure to develop the heart rhythm condition.
An earlier study in women who were followed for an average of 14 years also showed high-normal blood pressure to be associated with a higher risk for atrial fibrillation.
Prehypertension and Atrial Fibrillation
In the United States, high blood pressure is defined as a systolic reading of 140 or higher and a diastolic reading of 90 or more.
High-normal blood pressure, also known as prehypertension, is generally defined as having a systolic reading of between 120 and 139 and/or a diastolic reading of 80 to 89.
Atrial fibrillation is characterized by an irregular — and sometimes rapid — heartbeat resulting when the two upper chambers and two lower chambers of the heart are not contracting in sync.
Symptoms can include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, general weakness, or no symptoms at all.
In an effort to determine if the earlier findings in women also applied to men, researcher Irene Grundvold, MD, and colleagues from Norway’s Oslo University Hospital analyzed data from a study of men who were in their 40s and 50s when first examined in the early- to mid-1970s.
The men were followed for up to 35 years.
The study revealed that:
- Men with systolic blood pressure readings of 140 or higher when they entered the study had a 60% increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation over the next three decades, compared to men with systolic readings below 128.
- Men with systolic readings of 128 to 138 at at the start of the study had a 50% increase in risk.
- Men with diastolic readings of 80 or higher were 79% more likely than those with lower diastolic blood pressure to develop atrial fibrillation over the next three decades.
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It’s difficult to evaluate what these studies mean in view of the fact that BPs are not consistently at a given level. For example, my systolic BP (using a home electronic monitor) is usually around 125, but it’s often as low as 105 and sometimes as high as 140. So what do these results mean
“Men with systolic blood pressure readings of 140 or higher when they entered the study had a 60% increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation over the next three decades, compared to men with systolic readings below 128.
“Men with systolic readings of 128 to 138 at the start of the study had a 50% increase in risk.”
when levels are sometimes, but not usually, in the stated range?
It is a good question and you should google to get some answers. The recent research I have read indicates that you should not just average your numbers but take the higher numbers into consideration as more representative of your situation. My BP varies a lot too, and is referred to as labile. This is not good. It means our risk factors are worse.
I just overheard a conversation on public transport. A woman telling someone that her daughter’s blood pressure was ‘normal’, yet she had a stroke. The lady looked in her fifties, so I guess her daughter would be in her late twenties or thirties. So, why do people with ‘normal’ blood pressure have strokes?