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).


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Centre de Bioinformatique, University of Paris 7, INSERM U263, Paris, France.
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Chau
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L
Hansson
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Petitet
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ME
Safar
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D010879:Piperazines; C015568:urapidil