Hypertension is thought to extend the danger of stroke.

But a study from Michigan Medicine checked out the cumulative effects of years of high systolic blood pressure — the best blood pressure reading and the way hard blood is pumped into the arteries — finding that higher average blood pressure in maturity was related to a greater risk of the 2 most typical sorts of stroke.

A study published in JAMA network openanalyzed the typical systolic blood pressure several years before the primary stroke in greater than 40,000 people aged 18 years and older who had not had a stroke.

The researchers checked out three sorts of stroke: ischemic, or a clot that cuts off blood flow to the brain and is the explanation for greater than 85% of all strokes; intracerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding contained in the brain; and subarachnoid hemorrhage, or bleeding between the brain and the tissues that cover it.

They found that a median systolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg higher than average was related to a 20% higher risk of stroke and ischemic stroke and a 31% higher risk of intracerebral hemorrhage.

Our results suggest that early diagnosis and lifelong management of hypertension are crucial for stopping stroke, ischemic stroke, and intracerebral hemorrhage, especially in black and Latino patients, who’re at greater risk for uncontrolled hypertension than white patients.

Deborah A. Levine, MD, PhD, MA, Senior Writer, Professor of Internal Medicine and Neurology, University of Michigan School of Medicine

Black patients had a 20% higher risk of ischemic stroke and a 67% higher risk of intracerebral hemorrhage than white patients.

Hispanic patients had a 281% increased risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage, but not some other kind of stroke, compared with white patients.

Although black and Hispanic patients had the next risk of stroke, the researchers found little evidence to suggest that race and ethnicity influenced the association between cumulative systolic blood pressure and the kind of stroke a patient had.

“Examining racial inequalities expands our understanding of the social, economic, and political structures that influence health behaviors and stroke risk amongst racial and ethnic minority groups,” said Kimson E. Johnson, M.A., Ph.D., social employee, first creator and research associate on the University of Michigan.

Although systolic blood pressure is a modifiable goal for stopping stroke and other heart problems, a 2020 national survey found that blood pressure control in the USA worsened between 2013 and 2018, especially amongst black and Latino adults.

Self-monitoring of blood pressure improves blood pressure diagnosis and control, is accurate and cheap, however it continues to be undervalued, Levine says.

“The 2 major barriers to self-monitoring of blood pressure are lack of patient education and lack of insurance coverage for home blood pressure monitors, which cost $50 or more,” she added.

“Health systems and providers need to coach and encourage their patients to measure their blood pressure at home, and insurers have to pay for home blood pressure monitors to optimize people’s blood pressure and reduce their risk of stroke.”