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 .
Primary prevention with metoprolol in patients with hypertension. Mortality results from the MAPHY study.
The present study of primary prevention in white men aged 40 to 64 years attempts to investigate whether a beta-blocker given as initial antihypertensive treatment would lower total mortality to a greater extent than thiazide diuretics .  Patients were r and omized to metoprolol ( n = 1609 , 8110 patient-years ) or a thiazide diuretic ( n = 1625 , 8070 patient-years ) . The median follow-up time was 4.2 years . The mean dose of metoprolol was 174 mg/d , and of thiazide diuretics , 46 mg/d of hydrochlorothiazide or 4.4 mg/d of bendroflumethiazide . Identical control of blood pressure was achieved using a fixed therapeutic schedule . Total mortality was significantly lower for metoprolol than for thiazide diuretics because of fewer deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke . Total mortality was also significantly lower in smokers r and omized to metoprolol .  The benefit demonstrated in patients treated with metoprolol seems to have important implication s for clinical practice
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 .