Study suggests treatment may be beneficial to people who are not ill

Blood pressure-lowering medication may prevent serious conditions such as strokes, heart failure and heart attacks in adults with normal blood pressure, new research suggests.

The benefits of treatment were similar regardless of the starting blood pressure level, in people who had previously had a heart attack or stroke and in those who had never had heart disease, the study found.

Researchers say the findings have immediate implications for global clinical guidelines that typically limit blood pressure-lowering treatment to those with high blood pressure.

Lead author Professor Kazem Rahimi of Oxford University said: “This new and best available evidence tells us that decisions to prescribe blood pressure medication should not be based simply on a prior diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or an individual’s blood pressure level.

“Instead, medication should be viewed as an effective tool for preventing cardiovascular disease in people at increased risk of developing heart disease or stroke.”

Researchers say heart disease and stroke, linked to high blood pressure, are the leading cause of death across most of the western world.

For the research published in The Lancet, the Blood Pressure Lowering Treatment Triallists’ Collaborators pooled data from 344,716 adults to explore the effects of blood pressure-lowering medications.

Participants were separated into two groups – those with a prior diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, and those without.

Co-author Zeinab Bidel, also of Oxford University, said: “It is important that people are considered for blood pressure-lowering treatment based on their cardiovascular risk, rather than focusing on blood pressure itself as a qualifying factor for or target of treatment.

“We must provide well-rounded guidelines to lower risks for cardiovascular disease that include exercise, nutrition, smoking cessation and, where appropriate, medication.”

“We must provide wellrounded guidelines to lower risks