Test can identify patients with hypertension at higher risk of death

An inexpensive and routinely performed blood test could help identify patients with high blood pressure who are at increased risk of dying from the condition. Scientists at the University of Glasgow have found that one of the parameters in the routine full blood count - the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood known as haematocrit (hct) - is an independent biomarker for early death in patients with high blood pressure. While high haematocrit has been known to be associated with increased risk of thrombosis, the threshold level for action is usually when it exceeds very high levels of over 55%. Laura Paul, a University of Glasgow medical student, and a team of researchers analysed data on 10,951 hypertensive patients in the Glasgow Blood Pressure Clinic and found that, even within the normal range of haemtocrit, risk of early death increased at both the upper and lower end of haematocrit levels. They identified the haematocrit range with the lowest risk as between 42% and 44% in men and between 38% and 40% in women. Moreover, they found that haematocrit measured at the patients' first clinic visit predicted future blood pressure levels - those with higher haematocrit at the first visit tend to have higher blood pressure over a 10-year follow-up period. Hypertension is the most common preventable cause of premature death in the UK affecting over a quarter of adults - and over half of those over 60 years of age.