Newly released guidelines from the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) suggest that treatment for hypertension should be recommended when an older patient’s blood pressure reads 150 mm Hg or more.
“The evidence showed that any additional benefit from aggressive blood pressure control is small, with a lower magnitude of benefit and inconsistent results across outcomes,” ACP’s President Nitin S. Damle, MD, said in a news release.
However, in some cases, a lower systolic target should be considered, according to the guidelines.
If patients have a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack or have high cardiovascular risk, physicians should consider starting or increasing drug therapy to achieve systolic blood pressure of less than 140 mm Hg to reduce risk for stroke and cardiac events. The authors note, however, that this recommendation was rated weak, with moderate-quality evidence.
Read more at www.medscape.com
