Acetylsalicylic acid ( ASA ) did not reduce stroke or ' all cardiovascular events ' compared to placebo in primary prevention patients with elevated blood pressure and no prior cardiovascular disease .
Antiplatelet therapy with ASA for primary prevention in patients with elevated blood pressure provides a benefit , reduction in myocardial infa rct ion , which is negated by a harm of similar magnitude , increase in major haemorrhage .
The benefit of antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention in patients with elevated blood pressure is many times greater than the harm .
Benefit has not been demonstrated for warfarin therapy alone or in combination with aspirin in patients with elevated blood pressure .
BACKGROUND Elevated systemic blood pressure results in high intravascular pressure but the main complications , coronary heart disease ( CHD ) , ischaemic strokes and peripheral vascular disease ( PVD ) , are related to thrombosis rather than haemorrhage .
Some complications related to elevated blood pressure , heart failure or atrial fibrillation , are themselves associated with stroke and thromboembolism .
Therefore it is important to investigate if antithrombotic therapy may be useful in preventing thrombosis-related complications in patients with elevated blood pressure .
OBJECTIVES To conduct a systematic review of the role of antiplatelet therapy and anticoagulation in patients with high blood pressure , including those with elevations in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure , isolated elevations of either systolic or diastolic blood pressure , to address the following hypotheses : ( i ) antiplatelet agents reduce total deaths and /or major thrombotic events when compared to placebo or other active treatment ; and ( ii ) oral anticoagulants reduce total deaths and /or major thromboembolic events when compared to placebo or other active treatment .
Ticlopidine , clopidogrel and newer antiplatelet agents such as prasugrel and ticagrelor have not been sufficiently evaluated in patients with high blood pressure .
Blood pressure, stroke, and coronary heart disease: Part 1, prolonged differences in blood pressure: prospective observational studies corrected for the regression dilution bias
The associations of  diastolic blood pressure ( DBP )  with  stroke  and with coronary heart disease ( CHD ) were investigated in nine major prospect i ve observational studies : total 420,000 individuals , 843 strokes , and 4856 CHD events , 6 - 25 ( mean 10 ) years of follow-up . The combined results demonstrate positive , continuous , and apparently independent associations , with no significant heterogeneity of effect among different studies . Within the range of DBP studied ( about 70 - 110 mm Hg ) , there was no evidence of any " threshold " below which lower levels of DBP were not associated with lower risks of stroke and of CHD . Previous analyses have described the uncorrected associations of DBP measured just at " baseline " with subsequent disease rates . But , because of the diluting effects of r and om fluctuations in DBP , these substantially underestimate the true associations of the usual DBP ( ie , an individual 's long-term average DBP ) with disease . After correction for this " regression dilution " bias , prolonged differences in usual DBP of 5 , 7.5 , and 10 mm Hg were respectively associated with at least 34 % , 46 % , and 56 % less stroke and at least 21 % , 29 % , and 37 % less CHD . These associations are about 60 % greater than in previous uncorrected analyses . ( This regression dilution bias is quite general , so analogous corrections to the relations of cholesterol to CHD or of various other risk factors to CHD or to other diseases would likewise increase their estimated strengths . ) The DBP results suggest that for the large majority of individuals , whether conventionally " hypertensive " or " normotensive " , a lower blood pressure should eventually confer a lower risk of vascular disease
Acetylsalicylic acid ( ASA ) did not reduce stroke or ' all cardiovascular events ' compared to placebo in primary prevention patients with elevated blood pressure and no prior cardiovascular disease .
Antiplatelet therapy with ASA for primary prevention in patients with elevated blood pressure provides a benefit , reduction in myocardial infa rct ion , which is negated by a harm of similar magnitude , increase in major haemorrhage .
The benefit of antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention in patients with elevated blood pressure is many times greater than the harm .
Benefit has not been demonstrated for warfarin therapy alone or in combination with aspirin in patients with elevated blood pressure .
BACKGROUND Elevated systemic blood pressure results in high intravascular pressure but the main complications , coronary heart disease ( CHD ) , ischaemic strokes and peripheral vascular disease ( PVD ) , are related to thrombosis rather than haemorrhage .
Some complications related to elevated blood pressure , heart failure or atrial fibrillation , are themselves associated with stroke and thromboembolism .
Therefore it is important to investigate if antithrombotic therapy may be useful in preventing thrombosis-related complications in patients with elevated blood pressure .
OBJECTIVES To conduct a systematic review of the role of antiplatelet therapy and anticoagulation in patients with high blood pressure , including those with elevations in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure , isolated elevations of either systolic or diastolic blood pressure , to address the following hypotheses : ( i ) antiplatelet agents reduce total deaths and /or major thrombotic events when compared to placebo or other active treatment ; and ( ii ) oral anticoagulants reduce total deaths and /or major thromboembolic events when compared to placebo or other active treatment .
Ticlopidine , clopidogrel and newer antiplatelet agents such as prasugrel and ticagrelor have not been sufficiently evaluated in patients with high blood pressure .