Pulse pressure is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease

In the Framingham study of 1924 men and women followed for 20 years a higher pulse pressure (PP) at any level of systolic blood pressure (SBP) was an indepedent risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Hazard ratios were determined from level of PP within SBP groups; hazard ratios were set to a reference value of 1.0 for SBP of 130 mmHg and PP of 50 mmHg. All estimates were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, cigarettes smoked per day, glucose intolerance, and total cholesterol/HDL.