High blood pressure-related deaths are skyrocketing among young women, with rates up more than fourfold during the past two decades, a new study says.

Nearly 5 of every 100,000 deaths among 25- to 44-year-old women in 2023 owed to heart disease caused by high blood pressure, compared to about 1 in 100,000 in 1999, researchers are to report at an upcoming meeting of the American Academy of Cardiology (AAC).

The findings show that high blood pressure is becoming a growing health threat to younger Americans, researchers said.

“Rising mortality for young women with hypertensive heart disease reflects an underestimation of cardiovascular risk, delayed diagnosis and missed opportunities for early intervention,” lead researcher Dr. Alexandra Millhuff, a resident physician at the University of New Mexico, said in a news release.

Nearly half of Americans have high blood pressure, researchers said in background notes. If left untreated, the condition can weaken the heart muscle and lead to heart failure, heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

For the new study, researchers analyzed death certificate data from 1999 to 2023. More than 29,000 women died from high blood pressure-related heart disease during that period.

Black women had the highest blood pressure-related death rate, at nearly 9 per 100,000 compared to just over 2 per 100,000 for white women, researchers found.

Southern women had nearly 4 deaths per 100,000 related to high blood pressure-related heart disease compared to nearly 3 deaths in the Midwest and about 2 in the Northeast and the West.

Prior studies have shown that women are prescribed blood pressure meds at lower rates than men, researchers noted.

What’s more, treatment of heart disease usually focuses on men or older women, with less attention paid to younger women, researchers said.

Women face specific sex-related health risks during their lifetimes, related to changes that can occur during pregnancy or as they approach menopause, the team said.

“We need to be screening patients of this demographic for hypertension more aggressively, and that includes mitigating risk factors and possibly using antihypertensive medications,” Millhuff said. “Even though hypertension is more prevalent in older populations, it’s something that we need to be vigilant about in younger populations, as well.”

Millhuff is scheduled to present the findings March 29 at an ACC meeting in New Orleans.

Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.