Heart disease is the in Baltimore and . In 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it accounted for 1 in every 5 deaths. But local doctors expressed surprise Wednesday about a that hypertensive cardiovascular disease — a condition that develops in people who have untreated high blood pressure for many years — was what ended the life of legendary Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones.
“It’s tragic,” said Dr. Janet O’Mahony, an internal medicine doctor who practices out of Mercy Hospital in downtown Baltimore. “But he’s also not our typical poster child for hypertensive cardiomyopathy.
I guess it is a wake-up call for those of us who aren’t professional athletes — to pay attention to our lifestyle and doctor’s visits.” People are more at risk of high blood pressure as they get older and their blood vessels stiffen, O’Mahony said. Though people should start getting their blood pressure checked when they’re young, O’Mahony often tells her patients that 40 is a great age to talk with their doctors about their levels and make sure they’re healthy.
But Jones had just turned 40 before he died. Since hypertension typically doesn’t come along with symptoms, it often goes undetected until someone gets their blood pressure checked by their doctor. O’Mahony noted that she was not Jones’s doctor and has not reviewed his medical records — or his family’s medical history — but she said she’d presume the professional athlete.