2-arm blood pressure check indicator for risk from heart disease or death

The findings add support to the calls for both-arm blood pressure checks to be performed as standard.

The review is published in The Lancet online today (30th January) and the study is supported by the Royal College of General Practitioners, the South West GP Trust and the National Institute for Health Research Peninsula Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care.

The study reviewed 28 papers covering difference in systolic blood pressure between arms. It found significant evidence to suggest that a difference of 15mm Hg or more was associated with increased risk of: peripheral vascular disease (the narrowing and hardening of the arteries that supply blood to the legs and feet); pre-existing cerebrovascular disease (affecting the blood supply to the brain and often associated with cognitive issues such as dementia); and mortality, both as a result of cardiovascular problems and generally.

The risk of peripheral vascular disease was also increased at a difference of 10mm Hg or more.

The findings further support the need for both-arm blood pressure checks to be the norm – not least because most cases are 'clinically silent' and such checks would better identify those at risk.

Dr. Christopher Clark, Clinical Academic Fellow at PCMD and a GP in Witheridge, Devon, led the study. He said: “We set out to investigate whether there was an association between differences in systolic blood pressure between arms and vascular disease and mortality. Our findings indicate a strong association, and that differences of 10mm Hg or 15mm Hg or more might help to identify patients who are at risk and who need further vascular assessment. More research is required in order to transfer our findings to clinical practice, but in the meanwhile we will be flagging the results of our review to the UK Vascular Check programme.”

Media Contact

Andrew Gould EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.pcmd.ac.uk

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors