We were just introduced to a study that held hypertension responsible for cardiovascular disease. On similar grounds, scientists from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) asserted that individuals suffering from high blood pressure may be more vulnerable to brain tumors and in some cases there could be double the risk involved.
For the study, blood pressures of almost 580,000 people were gauged after which a follow-up analysis was undertaken to check if the subjects developed brain tumors in the long run. As per the results, almost 1,312 subjects went on to develop brain tumor in the follow-up sessions that were conducted at an average of 10 years following detection of high blood pressure.
Reportedly, almost 20% of individuals diagnosed with the highest blood pressure measurements had 2 fold chances of developing meningioma or malignant glioma as compared to those with the lowest readings.
Dr Rachel Thompson, Deputy Head of Science for WCRF, remarked, “Because this is a single study, the jury is still out on whether the high blood pressure is what caused the increased brain tumor risk among the people in this study or whether there is another unexplained reason for it. We would want to see this finding repeated by other studies before we could be confident that blood pressure really is a risk factor for brain tumors.”
However, the scientists informed readers that the actual cause of brain tumor may be rooted in many other factors too. But, maintaining optimum blood pressure levels are of prime importance irrespective of the revelations, they concluded.
The study is published in the Journal of Hypertension.