NPPB and hypertensive disorder: In 2003, Freitag et al. reported that among 1,801 normotensive Framingham Heart Study participants, mean age 56 years, 286 participants had developed hypertension on follow-up 4 years from baseline, but after adjusting for other covariates, plasma BNP was not related to the incidence of hypertension in either women or men, although BNP was reported to be associated with progression of blood pressure by one or more Joint National Committee VI categories on follow-up in men [31].