BMJ  2004;329:514 (28 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7464.514-b

Letter

Arteriolar narrowing as predictor of hypertension

Blood pressure and weight gain are better

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Wong et al studied the association between retinal vessel diameters and risk of hypertension.1 Some points would have deserved discussion.


Figure Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)
Figure Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)
 Narrowed (left) and normal (right) retinal arterioles

 

Firstly, evidence shows that blood pressure is one of the strongest predictors of the risk of progression towards hypertension. Thus, in the Framingham cohort study,2 subjects with a normal blood pressure (120-129/80-84 mm Hg) had a twofold to fourfold increased risk of hypertension as subjects with optimum blood pressure (< 120/80 mm Hg). Subjects with a high normal pressure (135-139/85-89 mm Hg) had fivefold to 12-fold raised odds. These figures were obtained only after four years of follow up.2

The odds ratios found by Wong et al were lower despite a longer follow up period. Moreover, with increasing retinal arteriole narrowing, the risk difference between normal and prehypertensive subjects disappeared. Do these findings indicate that, among patients in the first fourth . . . [Full text of this article]

Arnaud Chiolero, research fellow

Institut universitaire de médecine sociale et préventive, 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland arnaud.chiolero@hospvd.ch


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Relevant Article

Prospective cohort study of retinal vessel diameters and risk of hypertension
Tien Yin Wong, Anoop Shankar, Ronald Klein, Barbara E K Klein, and Larry D Hubbard
BMJ 2004 329: 79. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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