It has long been understood that high blood pressure is a risk factor for stroke. Now there is a new report that high blood pressure even when you're younger increases the risk of stroke decades later.

More than 5,000 individuals who took part in the Framingham study in the late 1940s and early 1950s were followed up for 45 to 50 years. Strokes had occurred in 491 people. Researchers examined their current blood pressure and their blood pressure as recorded 10 and 20 years previously. They found that more strokes occurred at age 60 and at age 70 in those people whose blood pressure was high at the readings taken 10 and 20 years before. The researchers conclude that optimal prevention of stroke late in life will require control of blood pressure in midlife.

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