Pages 376-377 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
Regional Institute of Occupational Health in Oulu, Finland
Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Finland
Source
Pages 376-377 in G. Pétursdóttir et al., eds. Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavík, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
The association of blood pressure and the concentration of cadmium in the blood was examined in 227 reindeer herding males living in Finnish Lapland. Subjects with blood cadmium higher than 10 nmol/l showed higher systolic blood pressure than others (143 mmHg vs. 136 mmHg), a similar trend being observed for diastolic pressure (89 vs. 86 mmHg). The rise in systolic blood pressure was particularly pronounced in patients with diagnosed arterial hypertension. The associations were not affected by age, body mass index, smoking, and alcohol consumption. The results suggest that a low-level environmental exposure to cadmium may increase blood pressure, especially in patients suffering from arterial hypertension.