ArticleImmunity, inflammation and disease2025
U-Shaped Relationship Between White Blood Cell Counts and Incident Hypertension in Military Young Adults: The CHIEF Study, 2014-2020.
Article in Immunity, inflammation and disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association of self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms with incident hypertension among young adults.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
- U-Shaped Relationship Between White Blood Cell Counts and Incident Hypertension in Military Young Adults: The CHIEF Study, 2014-2020.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2025Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundSystemic low-grade inflammation, which is characterized by increased counts of blood leukocytes (white blood cells, WBCs), can lead to hypertension, while reduced WBC counts caused by the use of some substances, e.g., alcohol, can also lead to hypertension. However, there have been no studies on the association between WBC counts and the risk of hypertension in young adults.
methodsThis cohort study conducted in Taiwan included a total of 2351 military personnel who were aged 18-39 years, were free of baseline hypertension and were followed up for incident hypertension from 2014 to the end of 2020. Resting blood pressure (BP) was measured during each annual health examination, while blood WBC counts and a biochemical panel were checked at baseline (2014). Incident hypertension was diagnosed as a systolic BP ≥ 130 mmHg and/or a diastolic BP ≥ 80 mmHg and/or the use of antihypertensive medications. Smooth curve fitting and multivariable Cox hazard proportional regression analysis, controlling for baseline sex, age, substance use, body mass index, BP, physical activity, serum uric acid level and kidney function, were used to determine the association between the baseline WBC count and incident hypertension.
resultsDuring a median follow-up of 6.1 years, 885 participants (37.6%) developed incident hypertension. A smoothing spline curve revealed a U-shaped relationship between the WBC count and incident hypertension, with a turning point for the WBC count of 6.00 × 10
conclusionAmong military personnel, not only increased WBC counts but also reduced WBC counts, within normal limits, were associated with a greater risk of incident hypertension. Those with low WBC counts may be vulnerable to infection, which subsequently leads to an increase in BP.
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