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Article: Number of Americans Who Have High Blood Pressure Up Sharply; 31 Percent of Adults Suffering From Hypertension, Study Finds
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 24, 2004
- Author:
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The number of Americans who have high blood pressure has increased
dramatically in the past decade, with almost one-third of adults now
suffering from the life-threatening condition, federal researchers
reported yesterday.
A new analysis of data collected by the federal government found
that the number of U.S. adults who have hypertension increased from
about 50 million in the period from 1988 to 1994 to at least 65
million in the period from 1999 to 2000.
Although the study was not designed to examine the cause of the
increase, the trend is probably being driven primarily by the rapidly
rising number of elderly people and those who are overweight, experts
said.
Whatever the cause, the trend ...