Beware, young adults! Hypertension at this stage may elevate stroke risk later

New Delhi: A new study warns that youngsters with high blood pressure may be at an increased risk of stroke as well as damage to the kidneys and brain later in life.

Researchers from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in the US looked at whether otherwise healthy isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) patients actually have a cardiovascular problem.

They suggest that the common approach of ignoring higher systolic blood pressure levels in younger adults may be wrong.

Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) occurs in people aged between 18 and 49 who exhibit systolic blood pressure of 140 or higher (versus the optimal of under 120), but a normal diastolic pressure of around 80.

Systolic pressure is the top number in a blood pressure reading and diastolic is the bottom number.

Researchers took cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) pictures of about 2,001 participants' hearts to assess the condition of the aorta - the major artery that carries oxygenated blood from the heart to the body.

They found that a section of the aorta that leads directly from the heart, called the proximal aorta, was the part which stiffened in young individuals with high systolic blood pressure.

(With PTI inputs)