High blood pressure spiking in women
Always at the cutting-edge of research, a team of US-based scientists looking at high blood pressure and associated risk factors has discovered that 30% of women suffering from high blood pressure are more likely to develop cardiovascular illnesses. The findings of this study have been published in the highly-respected American journal « Therapeutic Advances in Cardiovascular Disease ».
Although cardiovascular illnesses are commonly thought to disproportionately affect men, in actual fact it is women who now have the dubious honour of being in the majority when it comes to suffering from these conditions. In the United States there has been a clear reduction in the incidence of high blood pressure amongst men, who are better-informed of and more closely monitored by the medical profession in relation to this problem. Meanwhile, there is an issue with the under-diagnosis of cardiovascular illnesses in women, with existing treatments also generally being less effective in women than men. We therefore need to develop treatments that are tailored to patients’ gender since the current state of affairs sees women being treated with antihypertensives that have only been tested on men.
A stealthy, frequently asymptomatic condition, high blood pressure affects almost 6 million women in France some of whom will have to face serious medical issues as a result. So far, the resources devoted to developing treatments aimed specifically at women have been inadequate or even virtually non-existent. This is a research wrong and it is high time that it be righted.
← Previous newsNext news →