(Photo : Wiki
Commons) New research suggests that a blood test may be
able to identify people who will
develop hypertension well before the so-called
silent killer shows up on a
blood pressure machine.
(August 27, 2015) A
blood test may be able to identify people who will develop hypertension well
before the so-called silent killer shows up on a blood pressure machine,
according to a recent study.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine believe a more
sensitive version of a blood test long used to verify heart muscle damage from
heart attacks could also predict whether someone will develop high blood
pressure. They found that people with
subtle elevations in cardiac troponin T -- at levels well below the ranges
detectable on the standard version of this "heart attack" test --
were more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension within a few years.
"Identifying those at risk for hypertension as well as
those in the earliest stages of the disease would allow us to intervene much
sooner, either with lifestyle changes or medication, before the condition develops
fully and has had a chance to damage organs," lead investigator Bill
McEvoy said in a statement.
For their study, researchers analyzed blood samples obtained
in the late 1980s and early 1990s from more than 5,000 people enrolled in a
long-term multicenter research known as the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities
Study. Designed to track heart disease risk over time, the study followed
people for an average of 12 years.
None of the participants had clinical diagnosis of
hypertension at the beginning of the study although a small subgroup -- about
27 percent -- had high-normal blood pressures, a condition that often heralds
the onset of full-blown hypertension later on.