Blood pressure and weight predict heart failure

By Michele Rizzo

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Higher blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) in mid-life appear to increase the risk of heart failure in later life, according to findings published in the medical journal Hypertension.

Ramachandran S. Vasan, of Boston University School of Medicine and colleagues studied 3,362 subjects (57 percent women) who attended routine examinations between 1969 and 1994.

The team examined the participants' blood pressure and pulse pressure and BMI measurements. BMI is the ratio of height to weight that is commonly used to determine if someone is over- or under-weight.

These measurements were classified as current; recent (average of all available measurements during the decade); or remote (average of all available measurements obtained 11 to 20 years before the examination).

A total of 518 subjects developed heart failure. The researchers found that recent systolic blood pressure (the higher number in a blood pressure reading), pulse pressure and BMI were all associated with the risk of heart failure. An association was also observed between heart failure and remote systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure and BMI.

"The prevention of heart failure should begin early in life, and should include screening for elevated blood pressure and BMI," Vasan told Reuters Health. "Failure to identify or treat such modifiable risk factors in early and mid-adulthood may result in the loss of opportunities to reduce the incidence of heart failure in later life."

SOURCE: Hypertension, November 2007.