Pre-Hypertension: A New Risk Factor?

[CodieCW]

Having a blood pressure level just below the cut-off line for hypertension can seriously increase heart disease risk, even when patients do not cross over into full-blown hypertension, a new study finds. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina, was published recently in the American Journal of Medicine. Researchers found that patients whose blood pressure had been classified as pre-hypertensive, in the range of 120/80 to 139/89 mmHg, have a 2.5 times greater risk of developing heart disease than those with normal blood pressure. The study is one of the first of its kind to target the pre-hypertension population, which some doctors believe to be even larger than the number of adults with full-blown hypertension.