Two observed associations between respiratory allergies and hypertension in nonsmokers.

Abstract

Stebbings, J. H., Jr. (Div. Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Mayo Memorial Bldg. Box 197, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455). Two observed associations between respiratory allergies and hypertension in nonsmokers. Am J Epidemiol 97: 4–15, 1973. —Among 270 nonsmokers in Hagerstown, Maryland a threefold excess risk of diagnosed hypertension was found among respondents with a history of respiratory allergies, including asthma, hay fever, sinusitis and nasal catarrh. The association did not vary by age, and was found to be weak or nonexistent among smokers and exsmokers of pipes and cigars. Asthma and hay fever were found to be associated with high systolic blood pressure and the taking of medication for blood pressure in 234 nonsmoking white and Negro New York City transit workers. Among the whites, nasal catarrh was also associated with hypertension; among the Negroes, electrocardiographic evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy was also significantly associated with asthma and/or hay fever. Again, the associations occurred in all age categories. Risks of hypertension associated with a history of asthma and/or hay fever were distinctly stronger among Negroes than among whites. The hypothesis that respiratory allergies are risk factors for hypertension and that tobacco smoking suppresses the relationship deserves further investigation.