Why treating high blood pressure is important at any age.
For years, some doctors told their middle-aged and older patients not to worry if their blood pressure climbed with age. In fact, there was even a commonly held belief that if your systolic blood pressure (the top number in a reading) climbed as you aged, it was a positive sign that your blood was being propelled more forcefully through the blood vessels.
But today, doctors know better. If your blood pressure increases into the hypertensive range—no matter what your age—it can put your health in jeopardy. Conversely, keeping your blood pressure under control will lower your risk of hypertension complications, such as heart attacks and strokes, and help you live a long life— whether you are young or old.
Despite the erroneous beliefs of the past, age remains a major risk factor for high blood pressure in both men and women. As you get older, your blood vessels become less flexible, which increases the pressure on the artery walls as blood moves through them. In general, systolic blood pressure continues to increase with age, while diastolic pressure rises until the sixth decade of life, and then is likely to become stable (or even decline modestly).
It’s difficult to avoid high blood pressure with age. Studies show that even if you manage to remain hypertension free until age 65, you still have a 90% risk of developing high blood pressure in your lifetime. But although you may be more susceptible to high blood pressure as the years go by, you can take steps to postpone its arrival and successfully treat high blood pressure if it eventually catches up with you.
Unfortunately, not all doctors have recognized the importance of successfully treating high blood pressure in their older patients, especially those age 80 and beyond. In a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers reported on the treatment of high blood pressure in participants in the well known Framingham Heart Study. Overall, only a third of the participants with high blood pressure had their blood pressure under control (less than 140/90 mm Hg), and the number tended to decrease as age increased. This was particularly true in women: While 38% of women under age 60 had their blood pressure under control, the percentage dropped to 28% between the ages of 60 and 79 and 23% for those age 80 and older.
If you do not have high blood pressure, consider yourself fortunate but don’t let down your guard. Doctors are in agreement that whether you’re 25 or 85, lifestyle recommendations -- keeping your weight under control, exercising regularly, incorporating vegetables and fruits in your diet, reducing your intake of salt (sodium chloride), and if you drink, doing so moderately—are essential steps in the fight against high blood pressure. So, for example, don’t let age become a barrier to maintaining a healthy weight or engaging in regular physical activity. Eat smaller portions and limit high calorie foods to compensate for a slowing metabolism. And, when it comes to exercise, you may not be able to run marathons when you’re 70 (although some people do), but you can still take daily walks through the park or swim in the community lap pool.
