Follow-up study of arterial pressure in the population of a welsh mining valley

Abstract

The results of the first follow-up survey of arterial pressure in the population of one of the Welsh mining valleys are reported. The original measurements were made in 1954 on a random sample of this population and all first-degree relatives living within 25 miles. Repeat readings were made four years later. at the same time of year, in 1958. The recordings were all taken by one observer, under identical circumstances, without reference to previous readings. The results suggest the possibility that arterial pressure, when full allowance is made for age, may be increasing in middle-aged males. This trend is occurring to a greater extent in men previously engaged in heavy jobs, though they still have lower pressures than those previously in light occupations. These findings are discussed in terms of the secular trend in mortality from cardiovascular diseases reported by the Registrar-General. Blood-pressure was again found to correlate with family size, and increases in pressure were less in those subjects who had children during the four-year interval. The differences in the rate of increase of pressure with age between those having children and those not having them appeared sufficient to explain the marked difference found previously between childless men and women and those with large families. In women, those adding salt at table to cooked meals, who presumably have a larger salt appetite, were found to have lower blood-pressures and smaller pulsepressures in 1958, to have gained less in blood-pressure and pulse-pressure during the previous four years, and to be lighter than women who do not take additional salt in this way. No comparable differences were found in the men. © 1959, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.