A Reminder that Merely Elevated Blood Pressure Still Increases Cardiovascular Disease Risk
The old guidelines for systolic blood pressure drew the line for increased risk of cardiovascular disease at 140 mmHg, with higher systolic blood pressure defined as hypertension. That dividing line was then moved down to 130 mmHg. In the past few years, further evidence has shown that elevated systolic blood pressure of 120 mmHg or above still produces increased risk, and that one shouldn't feel comfortable and safe in the 120-129 mmHg range. The risk of cardiovascular disease scales up with increasing blood pressure, and as noted here, also with the modern lifestyle choices leading to excess fat tissue, metabolic disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Blood pressure is written as two numbers. The first (systolic) number represents the pressure in blood vessels when the heart contracts or beats. The second (diastolic) number represents the pressure in the vessels when the heart rests between beats. Hypertension is diagnosed if, when it is measured on two different days, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) readings on both days is ≥140 mmHg and/or the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) readings on both days is ≥90 mmHg.
"The 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC) / American Heart Association (AHA) BP guideline defined blood pressure ≥130/80 mm Hg as hypertension. This guideline showed that the normal level is less than 120/80 mm Hg and SBP 120-129 mm Hg and DBP < 80 mm Hg is elevated BP. However, little is known regarding whether elevated BP versus normal BP is specifically associated with a higher risk for coronary artery disease / cerebrovascular disease according to glucose tolerance status in real-world settings."
the authors addressed these research questions using a nationwide claims-based database that included information on 805,992 people enrolled with a health insurance provider for company employees and their dependents in Japan. In one arm of the study, they compared the cumulative incidence of coronary artery disease according to their SBP in individuals with normal, borderline, and elevated blood glucose, separately. The authors reported that, "a linear relationship was observed between cumulative incidence rates of coronary artery disease and SBP categories across all glucose tolerance status designations using SBP below 119 mmHg as the reference".
In another arm of the study, the investigators compared the cumulative incidence of cerebrovascular disease according to their SBP in individuals with normal, borderline, and elevated blood glucose, separately. Similarly, the authors observed a linear dose-response relationship between cumulative incidence rates of cerebrovascular disease and SBP categories across all glucose tolerance status. The study also found that combined together, the blood glucose status and blood pressure values had a synergistic effect on the incidence of coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-actionable-clock-immunological-health-chronic.html
Highlighting the connection between immune health and aging
In 2013 a group of researchers studying aging identified nine "hallmarks" of the aging process. Age-related immune system dysfunction was not part of the mix. "It's becoming clear that we have to pay more attention to the immune system with age, given that almost every age-related malady has inflammation as part of its etiology," said Furman. "If you're chronically inflamed, you will have genomic instability as well as mitochondrial dysfunction and issues with protein stability. Systemic chronic inflammation triggers telomere attrition, as well as epigenetic alterations. It's clear that all of these nine hallmarks are, by and large, triggered by having systemic chronic inflammation in your body. I think of inflammation as the 10th hallmark"
This is really unfortunate; my average blood pressure hovers in the 130-135/80-85 range continuously, and nothing I've tried lowers it significantly. I'm in good health and exercise regularly, get enough sleep, don't feel particularly stressed, don't eat much salt - but my blood pressure just won't come down. I really wish I had a better genetic variant here.