The researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have found that a common blood test which is used to verify heart muscle damage from heart attacks could also identify future risk of developing hypertension.

People with higher levels of the cardiac regulatory protein troponin T are more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension within a few years. For the study, the researcher’s analyzed blood samples obtained in the late 1980s and early 1990s from more than 5,000 people enrolled in a long-term multicenter research known as the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. None of the participants had clinical diagnosis of hypertension at the beginning of the study although a small subgroup but about 27 percent had high-normal blood pressures.

"Our data suggest that the high-sensitivity troponin test could flag people with normal blood pressure in the doctor's office who are at high risk for hypertension and other poor outcomes," Elizabeth Selvin, senior study investigator, said in a statement.

The study was published in the journal Circulation.  

By Lizitha