Blood pressure and serum lipids in hypertensive men and women aged 60-97 years.

OBJECTIVE

To report a large set of observations on blood pressure and blood lipids including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in male and female hypertensive subjects aged 60 years or above.

METHODS

Data on blood pressure (BP), total cholesterol (C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were made available on 5310 hypertensive subjects aged 60-97 years, from a European study on the effects of urapidil, a multifactorial antihypertensive agent (alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist+control 5HT1A-receptor stimulant). Observations before treatment were analysed to assess the male-female difference and the changes with age of BP and serum lipids. The subjects were divided into 7 groups, aged 60-62, 63-65, 66-68, 69-71, 72-76, 77-79, and 80+, respectively, and a 2-factor ANOVA (sex and age groups) was used.

RESULTS

Systolic BP increased with increasing age in both sexes (p < 0.0001). Over the whole age range, SBP was higher in women than in men (p < 0.0001). Diastolic BP remained unchanged in men and decreased with increasing age in women (p < 0.001). The C level was almost the same in men as in women, but tended to decrease with increasing age in women (p < 0.05). HDL-C was unchanged in men, but increased with increasing age in women (p < 0.006). In all age ranges, the HDL-C level was higher in women than in men (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

This study reports observations on BP and serum lipids in a large sample of hypertensives subjects aged 60-97 years. This type of data, especially on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, is rare in the elderly.