Analysis of blood samples from more than 5,000 people suggests that a more sensitive version of a blood test long used to verify heart muscle damage from heart attacks could also identify people on their way to developing hypertension, before it shows up on a blood pressure machine.
Results of the study, led by Johns Hopkins investigators, found that people with subtle elevations in cardiac troponin T –at levels well below the ranges detectable on the standard version of the ‘heart attack’ test –were more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension within a few years. The study also shows the test could identify those at risk for left ventricular hypertrophy, an abnormal thickening of the lower left chamber of the heart, a common consequence of untreated high blood pressure.
“Identifying those at risk for hypertension, as well as those in the earliest stages of the disease would allow us to intervene much sooner, either with lifestyle changes or medication, before the condition develops fully and has had a chance to damage organs,” said lead investigator, Bill McEvoy, assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
A summary of the research findings is published in Circulation.
