Hypertoni - samspelet med metabol belastning och påverkan av ålder och kön

Abstract

Master thesis, Programme in Medicine. TITLE: Hypertension - The interaction with the metabolic load and the influence of age and gender. Introduction In Sweden approximately 1,8 million people (almost 20 % of the population) suffer from hypertension. Hypertension is an important riskfactor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Further CVD affects women later in life compared to men. Aim The aim was to study the interaction between blood pressure and metabolic factors such as body mass index and waist-circumference. Moreover we aimed to evaluate the impact of gender and age on this interaction. Additionally we also wanted to examine the effects of blood pressure on the cardiovascular structure and function in gender and age-perspective. Methods This is a descriptive observational study with 162 individuals recruited from observational investigations. Metabolic variables and blood pressure have been measured in all subjects and echocardiographic measurements and investigation of peripheral arterial function has also been performed. Results Mean age of the population was 56 years and 80 % of the population was 50 years or older. There were 52 % women in the study. 60 % were non-smokers and 53 % had a mean 24-hour systolic blood pressure (SABPM) over 125 mm Hg. We found significant correlations between 24-hour systolic blood pressure and age, BMI, waist-measurement, septum-thickness, left ventricular mass, left ventricular mass index, deceleration time, intima media-thickness and pulse wave velocity in men, but in women only septum-thickness and augmentation index correlated significantly with SABPM . Conclusions Our results suggest that middle aged men are more vulnerable to the effects of blood pressure on cardiovascular function and structure and further that metabolic factors associated with obesity and visceral fat influence blood pressure more in men than in age matched women.