Pre-hYpertension tReament With A coMbinatIon of Dietary Supplements and Life-style Modifications

Prehypertension. Prehypertension is an American classification for those subjects with a normal-elevated blood pressure (BP) that does not reach the level considered to be hypertension.

Because of the new data on lifetime risk of hypertension and the impressive increase in the risk of cardiovascular complications associated with levels of BP previously considered to be normal, the JNC 7 report has introduced a new classification that includes the term "prehypertension" for those with BPs ranging from 120-139 mmHg systolic and/or 80-89 mmHg diastolic.

This new designation is intended to identify those individuals in whom early intervention by adoption of healthy lifestyles could reduce BP, decrease the rate of progression of BP to hypertensive levels with age, or prevent hypertension entirely.

Data from the 1999 and 2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) estimated that the prevalence of prehypertension among adults in the United States was approximately 31%. The prevalence is higher among men than women (39 and 23 percent, respectively).] People with prehypertension are at a higher risk for developing hypertension and target organ damages (i.e. left ventricular hypertrophy), as compared to people with normal blood pressure. Furthermore, similar to hypertension, prehypertension can increase the risk for heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure, and renal failure. Researchers have found that a prehypertensive person is 3 times more likely to have a heart attack and 1.7 times more likely to have heart disease than a person with normal blood pressure.

Management of Prehypertension.