Blood pressure medication can avoid cardiac arrest and strokes– even in individuals with regular high blood pressure. That’s the finding of late breaking research study presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2020.
” Greater drops in high blood pressure with medication result in greater decreases in the risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes,” stated principal investigator Teacher Kazem Rahimi of the University of Oxford, UK. “This applies despite the beginning blood pressure level, in individuals who formerly had a cardiovascular disease or stroke, and in people who have never ever had cardiovascular disease.”
” The truth that the relative results are comparable for everybody does not indicate that everybody must be treated,” he included. “This choice will depend upon a person’s likelihood of suffering cardiovascular disease in the future– there are a variety of threat calculators health professionals can utilize. Other elements to think about are the capacity for negative effects and the expense of treatment.”
There has been debate about whether pharmacological blood pressure lowering is equally useful in people with versus without a prior heart attack or stroke, and when high blood pressure is listed below the limit for high blood pressure (generally 140/90 mmHg). Evidence from previous research studies has actually been inconclusive, resulting in inconsistent treatment recommendations around the globe.
This was the biggest– and many detailed– study ever performed to examine these questions.
Individuals were divided into 2 groups: those with a previous medical diagnosis of heart disease and those without. Each group was divided into 7 subgroups based upon systolic blood pressure at study entry (less than 120, 120-129, 130-139, 140-149, 150-159, 160-169, 170 and above mmHg).
Over an average four years of follow-up, each 5 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure reduced the relative risk of significant cardiovascular events by about 10%. The threats for stroke, ischaemic heart disease, cardiac arrest and death from cardiovascular disease were reduced by 13%, 7% and 14% and 5%, respectively.
Neither the existence of cardiovascular disease nor the level of blood pressure at research study entry modified the impact of treatment.
Teacher Rahimi said: “The decision to prescribe blood pressure medication ought to not be based just on a prior medical diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or a person’s current blood pressure. Rather, blood pressure medication need to be considered as an effective tool for minimizing cardiovascular danger when an individual’s probability of having a cardiac arrest or stroke rises.”
Story Source:
Materials offered by European Society of Cardiology Note: Material may be modified for style and length.
