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 .
Serum cholesterol levels and survival in elderly hypertensive patients: analysis of data from the European Working Party on High Blood Pressure in the Elderly.
The relation between serum cholesterol and mortality was investigated in 822 elderly hypertensive patients r and omly assigned to treatment with diuretics , with or without methyldopa , or placebo .  Cox 's proportional hazards model showed that pretreatment serum total cholesterol levels were independently and inversely correlated with total mortality ( p = 0.03 ) , noncardiovascular mortality ( p = 0.02 ) , and cancer mortality ( p = 0.04 ) during treatment . Total and noncardiovascular mortality were also negatively correlated with pretreatment hemoglobin levels and body weight . All factors being equal , an increase in total serum cholesterol of 2.3 mmol/L was associated with a one-year prolongation of survival . After adjustment for gender , age , pretreatment cardiovascular complications , and systolic pressure , the correlations between serum cholesterol and cardiovascular and cardiac mortality were not significant
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 .