Young adults particularly men lag behind middle aged and older adults in awareness and treatment of high blood pressure putting this population at an increased risk for heart attack and stroke according to new research reported August 28 2017 in the journal Hypertension. Researchers noted young women are more likely to have their blood pressure checked due to more frequent healthcare visits like gynecological exams or prenatal care. The major findings of the study were Only half of the 6.7 million young adults with high BP in 2013 2014 received treatment and only 40 got their BP under control. Among young men rates of awareness treatment and control were lower compared to young women 68.4 vs 86 for awareness 43.7 vs 61.3 for treatment and 33.7 vs 51.8 for control . Young adults with high BP were more than twice as likely to be obese as evident for the observation that almost three quarters of young adults who had high BP were obese vs 57 of middle aged adults and 42 of older adults. Source AHA News Release August 28 2017