The reduction in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity was primarily due to a reduction in cerebrovascular mortality and morbidity .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS Treating healthy adults 60 years or older with moderate to severe systolic and /or diastolic hypertension with antihypertensive drug therapy reduced all-cause mortality , cardiovascular mortality and morbidity , cerebrovascular mortality and morbidity , and coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity .
Most evidence of benefit pertains to a primary prevention population using a thiazide as first-line treatment
BACKGROUND This is the second substantive up date of this review .
It was originally published in 1998 and was previously up date d in 2009 .
Elevated blood pressure ( known as ' hypertension ' ) increases with age - most rapidly over age 60 .
Systolic hypertension is more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease than is diastolic hypertension , and it occurs more commonly in older people .
It is important to know the benefits and harms of antihypertensive treatment for hypertension in this age group , as well as separately for people 60 to 79 years old and people 80 years or older .
A 12-month comparison of ACE inhibitor and CA antagonist therapy in mild to moderate essential hypertension--The GLANT Study. Study Group on Long-term Antihypertensive Therapy.
Patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension were treated mainly with an ACE inhibitor ( delapril , n = 980 ) or a Ca antagonist ( n = 956 ) for 12 months , and the incidence of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events as well as drug-related side effects were compared between the two groups . There were no significant differences between the clinical background s of the two groups . In both groups , the blood pressure was decreased significantly from 1 month of treatment onwards , with the degree of reduction being greater in the Ca antagonist group throughout the study period ( p < 0.001 ) . Cerebrovascular or cardiovascular events occurred in 11 out of 980 patients in the delapril group and 18 out of 956 patients in the Ca antagonist group ( p = NS ) . Cerebrovascular disease developed in 5 delapril-treated patients and 11 Ca antagonist-treated patients , and heart disease developed in 5 and 7 patients , respectively ( both p = NS ) . Discontinuation of treatment due to side effects was significantly more common in the delapril group than in the Ca antagonist group ( p < 0.001 ) . There was no significant difference in the incidence of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events between the two groups , and the results suggested that blood pressure reduction per se did not necessarily lead to a parallel decrease in cerebrovascular and cardiovascular complications
The reduction in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity was primarily due to a reduction in cerebrovascular mortality and morbidity .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS Treating healthy adults 60 years or older with moderate to severe systolic and /or diastolic hypertension with antihypertensive drug therapy reduced all-cause mortality , cardiovascular mortality and morbidity , cerebrovascular mortality and morbidity , and coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity .
Most evidence of benefit pertains to a primary prevention population using a thiazide as first-line treatment
BACKGROUND This is the second substantive up date of this review .
It was originally published in 1998 and was previously up date d in 2009 .
Elevated blood pressure ( known as ' hypertension ' ) increases with age - most rapidly over age 60 .
Systolic hypertension is more strongly associated with cardiovascular disease than is diastolic hypertension , and it occurs more commonly in older people .
It is important to know the benefits and harms of antihypertensive treatment for hypertension in this age group , as well as separately for people 60 to 79 years old and people 80 years or older .