Chronic pain may dramatically raise your blood pressure

 Research Highlights

• Chronic pain appears to play a meaningful role in raising the risk of developing high blood pressure.
• How long the pain lasts and where it occurs both influence that risk, and part of the connection is explained by depression and inflammation.
• Researchers say the results underscore how important effective pain management can be for preventing and controlling high blood pressure, a major driver of cardiovascular disease and death.
• Chronic Pain Linked to Rising Blood Pressure Risk

Chronic pain in adults may raise the likelihood of developing high blood pressure, and factors such as where the pain is located, how widespread it is, and whether a person also has depression appear to play important roles. These findings come from new research published today (November 17) in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

An evaluation of health information from more than 200,000 adults in the U.S. showed that individuals who experienced chronic pain throughout their bodies had a higher chance of developing high blood pressure compared to those reporting no pain, short-term discomfort, or pain limited to one region.

"The more widespread their pain, the higher their risk of developing high blood pressure," said lead study author Jill Pell, M.D., C.B.E., the Henry Mechan Professor of Public Health at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom. "Part of the explanation for this finding was that having chronic pain made people more likely to have depression, and then having depression made people more likely to develop high blood pressure. This suggests that early detection and treatment of depression, among people with pain, may help to reduce their risk of developing high blood pressure."

Understanding High Blood Pressure and Its Dangers

High blood pressure and hypertension occur when blood presses too strongly against vessel walls, increasing the chance of heart attack or stroke. High blood pressure, including stage one or stage two hypertension (blood pressure readings from 130/80 mm Hg to 140/90 mm Hg or higher), affects nearly half of adults in the U.S. It is also the leading cause of death nationally and worldwide, according to the 2025 joint American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guideline endorsed by 11 other organizations.

Earlier studies show that chronic musculoskeletal pain -- pain in the hip, knee, back or neck/shoulder that lasts for at least three months -- is the most common form of long-term pain in the general population. The new study examined how the presence, type, and distribution of pain across the body relate to later high blood pressure.

Source: ScienceDaily