Hypertension prematurely ages arteries and can lead to strokes, heart attacks and kidney failure, often without warning. "Recent surveys indicate that 50 million people in this country have hypertension, but only 12.5 million are being adequately treated," said Steven B. Miller, M.D., senior author of a paper in the September issue of American Journal of Hypertension. Miller is an associate professor of medicine at at the School of Medicine.
Women of childbearing age frequently are screened for hypertension during routine gynecological checkups and prenatal care. But men in that age group often see no reason to visit a physician. They often accompany pregnant women, however. "So we went to obstetricians' offices and asked the men in the waiting rooms if we could take their blood pressure," explained Daniel R. Martin, research instructor of medicine and first author of the paper.
In four obstetricians' offices, the researchers screened 191 men ranging in age from 15 to 69. Most (79 percent) of the men were between 20 and 39. Forty of the 191 men (21 percent) had elevated blood pressure.
But only two of the 40 (5 percent) and one man whose blood pressure was normal were aware of a history of the condition. That awareness level is much lower than in previous screening studies. Miller and colleagues believe the difference might be explained by the fact that all their subjects were men and most were young. Therefore, these men were unlikely to have made a recent visit to a physician.
Hypertension is twice as common among men as among women between 18 and 39 years. But young men generally don't seek medical care unless for acute conditions, when high blood pressure is likely to be dismissed as situational, Miller said. All too often, a man doesn't find out about his hypertension until he has had it for decades. By then, it could have seriously damaged his organs.
If detected early, hypertension can be treated effectively. And measuring blood pressure is a simple, quick and inexpensive procedure. "Health-care professionals just need to keep looking for innovative opportunities to screen people," Miller said. "Otherwise, these men could go for years without getting treatment."