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High blood pressure

How common is high blood pressure?

High blood pressure is very common.

Here is what we know about how many people have high blood pressure:

Source:
American Heart Association.
Heart disease and stroke statistics: 2006 update.
Available at http://www.americanheart.org (accessed on 24 June 2009).

About 50 million American adults have high blood pressure. That's about 25 in 100 adults.
An additional 45 million Americans have prehypertension (blood pressure that is slightly higher than normal, but not high enough to need drug treatment).
About 30 in 100 people with high blood pressure don't know they have it.
Only about 33 in 100 people with high blood pressure have it under control.
High blood pressure is a main cause of death in about 10 in 100 people who die in the US.
Under the age of 55, more men than women have high blood pressure. After that the pattern reverses, and women are more likely to have high blood pressure than men.
High blood pressure tends to be more common, more severe and happen at an earlier age among African-American men and women than in other ethnic groups. Researchers are trying to figure out why this is.

Sources for the information on this page:

American Heart Association.Heart disease and stroke statistics: 2006 update.Available at http://www.americanheart.org (accessed on 24 June 2009).

This information was last updated on Jul 02, 2009

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