Health implications of a 5 mm Hg increase in blood pressure

The health implications of a mean increase in blood pressure on the order of 5 mm Hg among young persons are explored primarily from a public health point of view. After an overview of the epidemiologic behavior of human blood pressure is provided, the phenomenon of "tracking" of blood pressure is examined as is the possible relationship between the rate of blood pressure change over time and the initial value. In the last part of the paper, the community benefits of lowering the average blood pressure 5 mm Hg (in terms of number of heart attacks prevented) are estimated under several simplifying assumptions.