BLOOD PRESSURES IN FIFTEEN THOUSAND UNIVERSITY FRESHMEN

Abstract

About two years ago one of us (WCA) published a number of observations based on a statistical study of nearly 9,000 blood pressure records made on the incoming freshmen at the Students'Infirmary of the University of California.¹ That analysis led to a number of conclusions which were so surprising and so contrary to all previous teachings that the need was felt for further study with a larger series of data. In the first place, it was found that hypertension is not a disease of old age alone; it is found commonly among young people, healthy enough to go to college. Furthermore, the pressure does not increase with age as we have always thought. The average actually drops from the age of 17 to 21 in the men, and from 17 to 25 in women. After that, it stays about the same among the men until after 50; among the women