London, Sept 29 (ANI): Even slightly raised blood pressure which is within the normal range increases a person's chances of experiencing a future stroke by 55 percent, according to a new research.
Prehypertension is clinical category created by experts in 2003 to describe patients whose blood pressure was elevated, but still considered within normal range.
The condition is defined by a systolic blood pressure (BP) between 120 and 139 mm Hg, or a diastolic BP between 80 and 89 mm Hg.
"The experts reasoned that, generally speaking, the higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk of death and disease, possibly starting from within the normal blood range," said Bruce Ovbiagele, MD, professor of neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine and senior author of the study.
Scientists analysed data on 518,520 adults from 12 studies looking at blood pressure and stroke risk.
The results showed that people who had prehypertension were at a 55 percent higher risk of experiencing a future stroke than people without prehypertension.
The health risk was measurably greater for those whose blood pressure levels were at the high end of the "normal" spectrum.
"We found that those people who fell within the higher range of prehypertension were at 79 percent higher risk of experiencing a future stroke," Ovbiagele said.
The findings should add clarity to the perceived health risk of prehypertension, said Ovbiagele.
The study was recently published online in the journal Neurology. (ANI)
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