News - Hypertension Week of March 30, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 13

Study: Lead Exposure Ups Hypertension Risk for Women

Middle-aged women with elevated levels of lead in their blood that are well below current national workplace guidelines still are at high risk of developing both systolic and diastolic hypertension

Previous studies have linked lead exposures to increased blood pressure and risk of hypertension in older men. The new findings are reported in the the March 26th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Researcher Dr. Denis Nash of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and his colleagues sought to determine whether the same relationship existed among middle-aged women in the United States. A total of 2,165 women between the ages of 40 and 59 years participated in the study.

The researchers found that a change in blood lead levels even at the lowest levels was associated with small statistically significant adjusted changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressures.

Women with the highest amounts of lead in their blood had increased risks of diastolic hypertension as well as moderately increased risks for general hypertension and systolic hypertension. This association was strongest in postmenopausal women, according to the researchers.

"These results provide support for continued efforts to reduce lead levels in the general population, especially women," concluded the researchers.

Other sources: JAMA. 2003;289:1523-1532