Relation between change in blood pressure and weight.

Abstract

A recent analysis of blood pressure measurements collected during longitudinal studies of samples of the general population in South Wales suggested that ageing plays no direct role in determining blood pressure levels (Miall and Lovell, 1967). The increases in blood pressure occurring during intervals of 8 to 10 years were found to be significantly related to the average pressure attained?the higher the pressure the greater the increase in pressure in a given time? and were only indirectly related to age. One possible explanation for this finding, though not the only one, would be that above certain levels the pressure itself determines the subsequent rate of increase in pressure. Such a concept is generally accepted within the range of pressures which is designated as malignant hypertension. If it were found to be true also at lower levels, the hypothesis that a self-perpetuating mechanism is involved would require the influence of other factors to initiate the vicious circle. One such factor could be body weight. Alternatively, the relation between change in pressure and attained pressure might itself be due to an underlying dependence of change in pressure on body weight. In this paper we report further analyses in which we have explored the relationship between blood pressure, weight, and body build in subjects in the same two studies in Wales.