Aggressive Blood Pressure Management: Lifesaving or Risky?
United States: Research from a major clinical trial indicates that aggressive blood pressure management produces more health benefits than possible risks for senior-aged adults.
More about the news
Tight blood pressure control at 120 systolic brought about positive medical outcomes for 85 percent of study participants, according to research findings.
Study findings demonstrate that the decreased dangers of premature death and heart disease outweigh the medical complications that might stem from aggressive blood pressure reduction, including kidney-related issues and dangerously low blood pressure.
According to Dr. Simon Ascher, the senior investigator and an assistant clinical professor at the University of California-Davis, “Almost all … participants aged 65 years or greater had a predicted net benefit that favored a systolic blood pressure target of less than 120 mm Hg over a systolic blood pressure target of less than 140 mm Hg,” US News reported.
Systolic blood pressure refers to pressure within blood vessels during a heartbeat.
About major findings
The experts state that elderly patients, weak seniors, and the ones taking several different medications derived “greater absolute harms from intensive blood pressure lowering,” along with higher levels of heart disease, cognitive downfall, and death rate outcomes.
Major US cardiology groups updated their high blood pressure definition through data collected in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) in 2017.
Blood pressure at 130 systolic stands as the standard classification of “high” since 2018 following the initial SPRINT findings when the previous target was lower than 140 systolic.
Regular blood pressure falls below 120 systolic, and resting blood pressure from 120 to 130 remains elevated rather than high.
The research team performed a detailed examination of approximately 5,100 elderly individuals enrolled in SPRINT and then evaluated those on aggressive treatment versus standard target treatment (140 systolic).
The researchers concluded, “These findings indicate that when accounting for an individual’s estimated risks and outcome preferences, the benefits of intensive BP lowering outweigh the harms for most SPRINT-eligible, community-dwelling older adults with hypertension, especially among high-risk subgroups who are often assumed to neither tolerate nor benefit from intensive BP lowering,” US News reported.
“These findings indicate that when accounting for an individual’s estimated risks and outcome preferences, the benefits of intensive BP lowering outweigh the harms for most SPRINT-eligible, community-dwelling older adults with hypertension, especially among high-risk subgroups who are often assumed to neither tolerate nor benefit from intensive BP lowering,” researchers concluded.
