Overview
- A UK Biobank analysis of 206,963 adults followed for an average 13.5 years found that nearly 10% developed high blood pressure.
- Risk climbed with pain extent, with chronic widespread pain associated with about a 75% higher risk compared with no pain.
- By location, elevated risks were reported for chronic abdominal (≈43%), headache (≈22%), neck or shoulder (≈19%), hip (≈17%), and back (≈16%) pain.
- Depression and inflammation together explained approximately 11.7% of the association between chronic pain and later hypertension.
- Experts urged attention to mood symptoms, careful blood pressure monitoring, and caution with NSAIDs, while calling for randomized trials and more diverse studies.