A new study links long-term exposure to high blood pressure to increased risk of heart valve disease.
Corresponding to high blood pressure on the walls of the arteries, arterial hypertension (HTA) is a silent disease that exposes you to a major risk of cardiovascular accidents. The cause: the maximum pressure when the blood is ejected into the arteries, which ultimately causes stiffening and premature aging of the arterial walls.
Heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure can be caused by high blood pressure, but also, as a new study in the journal reveals. JAMA Cardiologyvalvular heart disease.
“A few previous studies suggested that high blood pressure was associated with an increased risk of valvular heart disease, but it was unclear whether the observed associations were causal,” says Milad Nazarzadeh, a researcher at the George Institute for Global Health, UK, and co-author of this new research. “This study, which complements our previous work, provides the strongest evidence to date for this causal association and confirms that exposure to hypertension significantly increases the risk of major valve disease (including aortic stenosis, aortic and mitral regurgitation) .”
A risk multiplied by three
To reach this conclusion, the researchers used a very precise method based on genes called Mendelian randomization: from birth, we all have genes known to be associated or not with high blood pressure. To examine the association between systolic blood pressure and the risk of major valve disease, the study authors analyzed data from the UK Biobank: 329,237 men and women aged 40 to 96 at baseline between 2006 and 2010.
They were then able to observe that 3,570 people (1.08% of the sample) were diagnosed with valvular heart disease: 0.45% were affected by aortic stenosis, 0.19% by aortic regurgitation, and 0. 53% by mitral regurgitation.
According to the authors, each 20 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure is approximately equivalent to a threefold increase in the likelihood of developing aortic stenosis. This occurs when the valve that controls how blood is pumped from the heart to the main artery does not open fully.
This pattern of association was also observed for aortic regurgitation and mitral regurgitation, the other two main heart valve disorders.
Patients with heart valve disease may experience a variety of symptoms, including irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, fatigue, fainting, and dizziness.
For the researchers, these results highlight the importance of controlling high blood pressure as soon as possible, in order to limit the time during which individuals are exposed to the disease, in order to avoid valvary diseases. “This study highlights that high blood pressure should be considered a major risk factor, along with heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases,” says Milad Nazarzadeh.
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