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Women's Health

4x More Young Women Are Dying From Hypertension Than 20 Years Ago

Author: Ava Durgin

April 06, 2026

Assistant Health Editor

By Ava Durgin

Assistant Health Editor

Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She holds a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology from Duke University.

Image by Eddie Pearson / Stocksy

April 06, 2026

As a woman in my 20s, there are a few aspects of my health that I tend to focus most on—things like hormones, bone and muscle health, and skin tend to take the forefront.

Blood pressure is definitely not one of them.

And I’m not the only one. High blood pressure has long carried a reputation as being a problem for later or mostly a problem for men. Doctors have treated it that way too, focusing screening and intervention efforts on men and post-menopausal women while younger women mostly flew under the radar.

What a new study1 presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session reveals is that this assumption has been silently costing lives for decades.

A fourfold rise in deaths among women 25–44

Researchers analyzed U.S. death certificate data for women between the ages of 25 and 44 over a 24-year span.

Deaths attributable to hypertensive heart disease in this age group rose from 1.1 per 100,000 in 1999 to 4.8 per 100,000 by 2023. Over the whole period, more than 29,000 young women died from hypertension-related heart disease.

The study also highlighted disparities amongst those affected. Non-Hispanic Black women had the highest rates, 8.6 per 100,000, versus 2.3 per 100,000 among non-Hispanic white women. Regionally, women in the South were hit hardest, with a rate nearly double that of women in the West.

Hypertensive heart disease, defined

So what exactly is hypertensive heart disease?

Think of it this way. Your heart is a muscle, and like any muscle that's forced to work too hard for too long, it eventually starts to break down. When blood pressure stays elevated, the heart has to pump against that increased resistance with every single beat, thousands of times a day, day after day. Over time, the muscle thickens, stiffens, and weakens. This, then, can lead to heart failure, coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

The condition earns its reputation as a “silent killer” because it produces no obvious symptoms. A woman can have dangerously elevated blood pressure for years while feeling completely normal. Without routine screening, there is no alert, no warning sign, nothing to prompt a conversation with a doctor.

Why young women are slipping through the cracks

Some of this is structural. Research on hypertension and heart disease has historically focused on men and older women, so clinical instincts and screening guidelines followed the same path. Younger women are less likely to be flagged as at risk, and even when they are, they’re prescribed blood pressure medications less often than men.

There’s also a biological piece that’s often overlooked. Pregnancy and perimenopause bring major hormonal shifts that can stress the heart and raise blood pressure. The study specifically points out how important it is to get blood pressure under control before these life stages, rather than waiting for problems to appear during or after them.

RELATED READ: 7 Science-Backed Ways to Lower Your Blood Pressure Naturally

The takeaway

If you’re under 45 and can’t remember the last time your blood pressure was checked, that’s step one. The current clinical guideline is to keep it below 130/80 mm Hg. Most young women don't see a cardiologist, so bring it up with your primary care doctor or OB-GYN.

Lifestyle changes like moving more, reducing sodium, not smoking, and managing weight can make a real difference. Medication is also an option when needed, and the earlier it’s started, the better your long-term outcomes.

But the takeaway isn’t just personal. It’s a reminder that young women’s heart health deserves attention, screening, and action before problems start.

1 Source

- https://www.acc.org/About-ACC/Press-Releases/2026/03/18/20/30/Hypertension-Related-Deaths-Rise-More-Than-Fourfold-in-Young-Women