This has led medical practitioners to focus on treatment, namely surgery to repair or replace the valve, rather than prevention.

In the new study, researchers used electronic health records to followed 5.5 million adults in Britain over 10 years.

It found that higher blood pressure in early life was associated with a significantly greater future risk of mitral regurgitation.

According to the researchers, further research is needed to test whether lowering blood pressure, through exercise, diet or blood pressure-lowering drugs, could reduce the risk of the disorder occurring.

"With worldwide aging and population growth, we are likely to see an increasing number of cases of this condition," said Rahimi.

"We need to find effective and affordable measures to tackle it, and our study suggests one possible avenue for prevention, by reducing high blood pressure."