High Blood Pressure Found to Riskier in Women than Men

Risks brought about by high blood pressure have been found to be higher in women than men, a recent study concludes.

Researchers involved in the study found differences in the mechanisms that cause high blood pressure in women, compared to men. They looked at 100 men and women with untreated high blood pressure and all of their participants were at least 53 years old. The researchers performed a series of specialized tests to see whether the heart or blood vessels were involved in increasing blood pressure.

Results of the study published in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Cardiovascular Disease showed that the women in the study had 30 to 40 percent more vascular disease compared with men who had the same level of high blood pressure. Researchers confirmed that this finding may greatly affect the severity of heart disease among women. They also suggested that treatment should be tailored to the female mechanisms that cause high blood pressure.

Lead study author, Carlos Ferrario suggests that medical community has been under the impression that high blood pressure was equally dangerous for both sexes and types of treatments given were under that premise, Spire Health Care reports. Over the last 30 years, there has been a significant decline in cardiovascular diseases death among men but the same cannot be said for women. "We need to evaluate new protocols - what drugs, in what combination and in what dosage - to treat women with high blood pressure," said Ferrario.