Risk of dying from heart disease could be predicted with test at age seven

Risk of dying from heart disease could be predicted with test at age seven

A new preliminary study has uncovered the impact high blood pressure can have at any age, not just during a person’s later years. Specifically, scientists found that measuring the blood pressure of children around age seven could predict their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease in their mid-50s.

The study found high blood pressure as a child could increase a person’s risk of death by 40% to 50% over the next 50 years of their life. It was presented at the American Heart Association's Hypertension Scientific Sessions and published in the JAMA journal over the weekend.

Alexa Freedman, Ph.D., lead author of the study, said according to News Medical: “We were surprised to find that high blood pressure in chi