We should be measuring blood pressure at all life stages

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-12-05 03:00

Australia; VIC; SA; TAS

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It might be worth monitoring blood pressure at all life stages including infancy, not just as adults, according to Aussie researchers. The team used data from a Finnish study which looked at blood pressure and other measurements of 534 participants every year between 1989 and 2018. They found higher blood pressure from early infancy and accumulated across early-life was associated with higher artery thickness in young adulthood, which contributes to higher blood pressure and other heart health issues. Infancy, pre-school, childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood all seemed to contribute to blood pressure equally. The findings show that achieving low blood pressure early on and maintaining this throughout life can potentially reduce the risk of arterial thickening, and heart disease, later in life, according to the team.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, The University of Melbourne, University of South Australia

Funder: This research was funded by the Academy of Finland (206374, 294834, 251360, 275595, 307996, and 322112), the Juho Vainio Foundation, the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation, Special Governmental grants for Health Sciences Research (Turku University Hospital), the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, the Finnish Medical Foundation, and the Turku University Foundation. Dr Magnussen was supported by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship (100849) and a National Health and Medical Research Council investigator grant (APP1176494). Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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