Men and women: Rising blood pressure stiffens artery walls
Your blood pressure naturally jumps up as you age, according to experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The increased pressure stresses and stiffens artery walls, leading to additional rises in blood pressure and increasing your risk of blockages. For women, the decline in estrogen sabotages flexibility in your arteries.
“This stiffness also occurs within the heart chambers, resulting in increased stress for the heart,” Dr. Chinnaiyan says. In general, people don’t realize their heart is stressed because high blood pressure doesn’t have any outward symptoms. In silence though, it is damaging blood vessels and heart muscle, significantly raising your risk of heart disease.
