Young adults with elevated blood pressure (BP), stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension before age 40 years, as defined by the BP classification in the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines, had significantly higher risk for subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD) events compared to those with normal BP before age 40, a new study found. The prospective cohort study included 4,851 young adults (aged 18‒30 years) with CVD events as the primary outcome. Researchers found:

• Over a median follow-up of 18.8 years, 228 incident CVD events occurred.
• CVD incidence rates for normal BP, elevated BP, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension were 1.37, 2.74, 3.15, and 8.04 per 1,000 person-years, respectively.
• After multivariable adjustment, hazard ratios (HRs) for CVD events for elevated BP, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension vs normal BP were 1.67, 1.75, and 3.49, respectively.