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Experts Talk About: High-Risk Groups

Dr. Roccella: Nancy, are there women who are at increased risk for hypertension?

Ms. Houston Miller: To be honest, when you look at the fact that one in three adult Americans is going to suffer high blood pressure, I think that we all have to ensure that we are doing everything possible to prevent it.

Unfortunately, the leading cause of death in all women is cardiovascular disease. At least one in five women are going to have heart disease; some people say one in three. Cardiovascular disease is much more prevalent than cancer, and high blood pressure is a major risk factor. I do not think there is anybody who should forget this in terms of overall risk.

That said, high blood pressure is much more prevalent in non-Hispanic African American women, and slightly more prevalent in Hispanic women. When African American women reach midlife, the rate of hypertension is about 52 percent. So African Americans develop it earlier, they seem to have a little bit worse hypertension, and so it becomes critically important that we really focus on the women who are at high risk.

Dr. Roccella: Could you tell us about hypertension running in families? If we have high blood pressure in families, does that mean something?

Dr. Black: If you picked your parents incorrectly, that is what you get. If we see someone whose two parents have hypertension or who has hypertension on both sides of the family, the likelihood that they will have hypertension is virtually certain. What that means operationally is that these are people who have to be told unequivocally, even when they are young, that they've got to monitor their blood pressure and watch the things that Nancy was talking about: diet, exercise, and lifestyle. Because while we can certainly slow the progression, we cannot necessarily abolish it or eliminate it

Now, if you have one hypertensive parent obviously your risk is higher as well. And if you have none, that does not necessarily mean you are out of the woods. So you still have to watch.

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Click these links to read more from Sister to Sister’s Expert Roundtable on High Blood Pressure:

Introduction
Blood Pressure Basics
Symptoms & Screening
Treatment Benefits
Treatment Options
Drug Side Effects
Drug Interactions
Medication Costs
Prehypertension
Aging's Impact
High-Risk Groups
Future Goals