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Article: Systolic Blood Pressure Key for Elderly.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- October 1, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Blood pressure is typically recorded as two numbers--the systolic pressure (as the heart beats) over the diastolic pressure (as the heart relaxes between beats), in the past, many physicians relied on diastolic blood pressure to diagnose hypertension. However, research has found that diastolic blood pressure rises until about age 55 and then declines, while systolic blood pressure increases steadily with age.
"Systolic hypertension is a major health threat, especially for older Americans," cautions Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). "While it cannot be cured, systolic hypertension can be treated and its complications ...