Plasma urea in hypertensive patients.

The annual increase in plasma urea was measured in 253 hypertensive patients. On average there was a significant increase in plasma urea with time which did not depend on the sex of the patient or the type of hypertension. It did, however, depend on the initial level of plasma urea. A table giving the upper limits for expected annual increment may prove useful in clinical assessment. The relation between plasma urea and presenting blood pressure and age was examined in 1217 patients seen at the Hammersmith Hospital hypertension clinic from 1952 to 1967. The plasma urea was significantly related to both age and diastolic and systolic blood pressure. It was higher in men than in women up to 60 years of age, but not above that age, and it increased with presenting mean blood pressure in both sexes, but the increase was greater in men. There was a quadratic relation between age and plasma urea in both men and women. In both sexes the plasma urea increased between the ages of 60 and 80.