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Diseases & Conditions
High blood pressure? Treat the risk, not the number
- By Heidi Godman, Executive Editor, Harvard Health Letter
News briefs
You already know that medication can prevent heart attacks and strokes in people diagnosed with high blood pressure. But a study published May 1, 2021, in The Lancet reveals that medication may also offer benefits to people with pressures still in the normal or "high normal" range and no clear signs (yet) of cardiovascular disease. Researchers combined data from 48 randomized trials of blood pressure drugs involving nearly 345,000 participants. Over four years, reducing blood pressure by just five millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) reduced the overall risk of cardiovascular problems by 10% — problems like clogged coronary arteries, weakened heart muscle (heart failure), chest pain, and stroke. The risk declined regardless of how high the pressure was, or whether participants already had heart problems or stroke. Study authors stress that the findings don’t mean everyone should be put on blood pressure drugs. Medications always come with costs and risks for side effects. But this study suggests that people with a relatively high risk for heart attacks and strokes might consider taking a medication if their blood pressure is in the "high normal" range, always in combination with diet and exercise.
Image: © monkeybusinessimages/Getty ImagesAbout the Author

Heidi Godman, Executive Editor, Harvard Health Letter
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Controlling Your Blood Pressure
An alarming one in three American adults has high blood pressure. Known medically as hypertension, many people don't even know they have it, because high blood pressure has no symptoms or warning signs. But when elevated blood pressure is accompanied by abnormal cholesterol and blood sugar levels, the damage to your arteries, kidneys, and heart accelerates exponentially. Fortunately, high blood pressure is easy to detect and treat. In the Special Health Report, Controlling Your Blood Pressure, find out how to keep blood pressure in a healthy range simply by making lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, increasing activity, and eating more healthfully.
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