Neighbors of foreclosed homes may face an elevated risk of high blood pressure, according to findings by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers and colleagues. A study of 1,750 Massachusetts residents participating in the long-running Framingham Heart Study from 1987 through 2008 found that each foreclosure within 100 meters of a person’s home raised his or her systolic blood pressure (the top number in the reading) by 1.71 mm/hg. The researchers theorized that this may be due to stress over the effects of vacant properties on home values and community safety. The study was published online in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.