[Influence of some ambient factors in the epidemiology of essential hypertension]

We studied a population of 13,963 subjects of whom 8,043 were group control and 1,915 were patients with undetected hypertension and the remaining patients were patients with hypertension diagnosed before the study. We analyzed age, sex, intake of alcohol, coffee, and saturated fats and compared these variables with the blood pressure readings. A significant statistical correlation between them was found. In addition the odd risks (OR) for each variable, such as alcohol showed a risk 2.26 times greater for drinkers than non-alcohol drinkers. This was 2.76 times greater in men than in women and 3.78 times greater in subjects 30 years old and over.