Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, JAMA / 19.06.2014
What is the Sweet Spot For Hypertension Control?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with
Carlos J. Rodriguez, MD, MPH
Department of Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Rodriguez: As a clinician there is a notion suggesting that lower blood pressure is better but our current research to date is controversial and not conclusive. We wanted to study a large group of people with hypertension and see whether over 20 years of follow up, if a lower systolic blood pressure would be associated with lower cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, heart failure, angina). We hypothesized that there would be a linear association between blood pressure and events, that lower blood pressure would be associated with lower events and that as the blood pressure went up there would be more events. We found this was not the case but that hypertensives with a blood pressure between 120-138mmhg have the greatest benefit and those with a blood pressure less than 120mmhg did not have additional benefit.
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