The rise in blood pressure with age is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes. Age-related increases in blood pressure have been observed in almost every population, except among hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists.
Understanding the conditions affecting age-related BP increase is of obvious clinical importance. Higher BP is associated with cardiovascular and renal disease across diverse populations, even controlling for other factors. Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular mortality, and age-related BP increase is a high priority target for intervention.