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(Circulation. 2004;109:e9033-e9034.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

High Systolic Blood Pressure Increases Cardiovascular Risk

High systolic blood pressure increases the risk of a cardiovascular event in women who have heart disease or at least 3 risk factors for it, said researchers who participated in a Women’s Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study (WACS) in a report in this week’s Circulation ( Circulation. 2004;109:1623–1629[Abstract/Free Full Text]). Surprisingly, the researchers, led by Peter J. Mason, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical School, noted that use of antihypertensive medication "did not modify the relationship between systolic blood pressure and cardiovascular events."

WACS is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, secondary prevention trial in which the value of taking antioxidant vitamins, folic acid, vitamin B5, and vitamin B12 is being tested. In this substudy, 5218 women were monitored for 6.5 years. There were 661 confirmed events (nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, coronary artery bypass graft procedure, percutaneous coronary angioplasty, or cardiovascular disease death) during that time. In this group, systolic blood pressure was a strong predictor of cardiovascular events. For each 10-mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure, there was a 9% increase in the risk of cardiovascular events. Weaker predictors of risk were diastolic blood, mean arterial, and pulse pressures.

The researchers wrote: "Our data suggest that women with CVD [cardiovascular disease] and borderline elevations in SBP [systolic blood pressure] are at increased risk of future events and might benefit from a lower targeted BP [blood pressure]."

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