Organ damage was common in rural Kenya and The Gambia
A cross-sectional study detected organ damage in 56.8% of 1,212 apparently healthy adults, with older age and higher blood pressure linked to damage.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In a population-based cross-sectional study, researchers assessed 1,212 apparently healthy adults with few reported coexisting conditions in rural Kenya and The Gambia. Their average age was 56.8 years, and 62.9% were female. Researchers monitored blood pressure for 24 hours and assessed organ damage using electrical recordings and ultrasound of the heart, plus a test of artery stiffness.
Organ damage was present in 56.8% of participants. Older age and higher blood pressure were associated with damage, which was more common in The Gambia than in Kenya. Even for adults aged 30–39 with systolic blood pressure—the pressure when the heart contracts—of 100 millimeters of mercury, a model estimated that the probability of damage exceeded 25% for both sexes.
Why it matters
The findings raise questions about how cardiovascular screening should account for age, including whether current tools adequately identify risk in younger adults in rural African settings.
Caveats
This cross-sectional study could not establish cause and effect. The findings were reported in a conference abstract and do not establish whether the same patterns apply outside these two rural settings.
The paper
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
