A new study found that chronic pain may increase the risk of high blood pressure. The location and severity of the pain are also factors, as is if the person has depression or inflammation.
The research looked at health data from more than 200,000 adults in the UK. People who reported generalized chronic pain were more likely to develop high blood pressure than those with no pain, short-term pain or localized pain.
“The more widespread their pain, the higher their risk of developing high blood pressure,” said lead study author Dr. Jill Pell, a professor at the Univ. of Glasgow. “Part of the explanation for this finding was that having chronic pain made people more likely to have depression, and then having depression made people more likely to develop high blood pressure. This suggests that early detection and treatment of depression, among people with pain, may help to reduce their risk of developing high blood pressure.”
Dr. Pell said this is the first study to look at how chronic pain’s role in depression and inflammation may be linked to blood pressure. The study used questionnaires to gauge people’s depression and experience of pain. It also used blood tests to look at inflammation. There was a follow up window of about 13.5 years. At that time almost 10 percent of people in the study had developed high blood pressure. People with widespread chronic pain had a 75 percent higher risk. People with localized chronic pain had a 20 percent higher risk. And people with short-term pain had a 10 percent higher risk. Depression and inflammation accounted for 11.7 percent of the higher risk factor.
Dr. Daniel Jones, chair of the 2025 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology High Blood Pressure Guideline said, “It is well known that experiencing pain can raise blood pressure in the short term, however, we have known less about how chronic pain affects blood pressure. This study adds to that understanding, finding a correlation between the number of chronic pain sites and that the association may be mediated by inflammation and depression.”
The study has some limitations. As the data was from the UK Biobank, the participants were mostly middle age or older and predominantly white. Additionally, their pain levels were self-reported.
Dr. Jones didn’t work on this study. He wants future research to come in the form of randomized controlled trials of pain management blood pressure treatments. He pointed out that some OTC meds like ibuprofen can increase blood pressure. He said pain management needs to consider a person’s overall needs.
