According to a new study, women have a lower “normal” blood pressure than men, which may be harmful to their health. Systolic pressure is the first number in the blood pressure count, which measures the force of blood against artery walls.
“It may be detrimental to a woman’s health,” said Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, MMSc, associate professor of cardiology and Director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute and senior author of the study. “Based on our research results, we recommend that the medical community reassess blood pressure guidelines that do not account for sex differences.”
Over 27,000 participants participated in four community-based cohort studies, of which 54 percent were women. Blood pressure that continues to rise above the limit, is a well known a factor behind a number of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks, heart failure, and strokes. Women also had lower blood pressure thresholds for heart attacks, heart failures, and strokes than men.
” We are now pushed to rethink what we thought was a normal blood pressure that might keep a woman or a man safe from developing heart disease or stroke,” added Cheng.
Men’s risk threshold was 120 mmHg, and women’s risk threshold was 110 mmHg or lower. In contrast, systolic blood pressure levels that exceeded these thresholds were associated with an increased risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. A previous study by a group of researchers found that women’s blood vessels age more rapidly than men’s.
It was revealed in Cheng’s research, published last year, that women have a different physiology and biology than men and that these differences could explain why some types of cardiovascular disease may be more likely to affect women at different stages of their lives. Dr Cheng states that further research is needed in the area.
