Early-Onset Hypertension Confers Greater Cardiovascular Risk than Late-Onset Hypertension

Whether early-onset hypertension confers more cardiovascular (CV) risk than does late-onset hypertension is unclear. In this study, investigators used data from 3600 community-dwelling participants in the Framingham Heart Study to determine whether early-onset, compared with late-onset, hypertension is associated with CV-related death. Risk for CV-related death was significantly higher among those with early-onset hypertension (age, <45) than among those without hypertension (odds ratio, 2.19). Notably, as age of hypertension onset rose, risk fell: For example, onset at age ≥65 conferred an OR of 1.47 for CV-related death.

In another analysis, the researchers examined associations between hypertension in first-generation Framingham participa…