ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990                   TAG: 9007190578
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

BORDERLINE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE THREAT CITED

Borderline high blood pressure, often ignored by doctors, can increase the chance of heart attack, researchers said in a study released today.

"I think what we can conclude from this study is that a condition that clinical practitioners tend to ignore . . . can really lead to much more serious problems," said the lead researcher, Dr. Stevo Julius, chief of the division of hypertension at the University of Michigan.

Results of the study were published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Health records of nearly 1,000 people in Tecumseh, Mich., between the ages of 18 and 38 were examined for high blood pressure since childhood. Of those studied, 124 had borderline high blood pressure and also displayed slight damage to heart and blood vessels.

Doctors long have held that high blood pressure, or hypertension, damages vital organs and can lead to heart attacks, kidney failure and strokes. But the new study is the first indication that borderline high blood pressure also can cause organ damage.

- Associated Press 


 by CNB