Variation in blood pressure with age and sex of the Uva-Bintenne Veddas

Abstract

The blood pressure of 496 (227males and 269 females) Uva-Bintenne Veddas in the age range 1 to 80 years were recorded at Hennanigala South and Dambana. In both males and females there is no progressive increase of pressure with age. In the females both curves are more variable with the systolic pressure higher than in the males except in the age range 31-40 and the diastolic pressure higher up to 50 years. When compared with a 1989 study of a rural breeding isolate of the Sinhalese the pressures of both males and females were significantly higher in the age range 1-15 years with no steep rise of the curve from 1-18 years. The aetiology of the difference is postulated to be genetic rather than environmental.