Major Risks Linked to High Systolic Pressure

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By Linda Melone

For years, an elevated systolic blood pressure reading was almost considered normal. Now, doctors say it could be a key sign of mortality.

Doctors have been concerned with an elevated systolic blood pressure reading for years, but often it was viewed as not as much a worry if the diastolic number fell within a normal range. An elevated systolic reading was so common among older patients that it was almost considered normal.
           
“We now know this was wrong,” says John Corso, M.D., author of Stupid Reasons People Die (High Lakes Press, 2007). “After age 50, a high systolic pressure is actually more important than diastolic pressure as a cardiovascular risk factor.”
           
Blood Pressure Basics
Normal blood pressure is considered 120/80 mmHg or less, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

Systolic blood pressure is the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats. A systolic (upper) reading of 140 mmHg or greater is classified as hypertension.
           
Diastolic blood pressure (the lower reading) measures how far the pressure falls before the next heartbeat.

Pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic and diastolic numbers. For instance, in a person with 120/80 mmHg blood pressure, his “pulse pressure” is 40 mmHg.

As the systolic number gets higher, the pulse pressure also grows. Experts now believe pulse pressure may be one of the greatest indicators in predicting mortality in older people. So, doctors are keeping an extra close eye on systolic pressure.

And for good reason. A 12-year followup study of more than 300,000 men showed an increased risk of death from coronary disease relating to elevated systolic pressure.