Treating patients to lower than st and ard BP targets , < /=140 - 160/90 - 100 mmHg , does not reduce mortality or morbidity .
BACKGROUND When treating elevated blood pressure , doctors need to know what blood pressure ( BP ) target they should try to achieve .
The st and ard of clinical practice for some time has been < /= 140 - 160/ 90 - 100 mmHg .
New guidelines are recommending BP targets lower than this st and ard .
It is not known whether attempting to achieve targets lower than the st and ard reduces mortality and morbidity .
OBJECTIVES To determine if lower BP targets ( < /= 135/85 mmHg ) are associated with reduction in mortality and morbidity as compared with st and ard BP targets ( < /= 140 - 160/ 90 - 100 mmHg ) .
J-shaped relation between blood pressure and stroke in treated hypertensives.
The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between  hypertension and risk of stroke in the elderly . The study was performed within the framework of the Rotterdam Study , a prospect i ve population -based cohort study . The risk of first-ever stroke was associated with hypertension ( relative risk , 1.6 ; 95 % CI , 1.2 to 2.0 ) and with isolated systolic hypertension ( relative risk , 1.7 ; 95 % CI , 1.1 to 2.6 ) . We found a continuous increase in stroke incidence with increasing blood pressure in nontreated subjects . In treated subjects , we found a J-shaped relation between blood pressure and the risk of stroke . In the lowest category of diastolic blood pressure , the increase of stroke risk was statistically significant compared with the reference category . Hypertension and isolated systolic hypertension are strong risk factors for stroke in the elderly . The increased stroke risk in the lowest stratum of blood pressure in treated hypertensive patients may indicate that the therapeutic goal of " the lower the better " is not the optimal strategy in the elderly
Treating patients to lower than st and ard BP targets , < /=140 - 160/90 - 100 mmHg , does not reduce mortality or morbidity .
BACKGROUND When treating elevated blood pressure , doctors need to know what blood pressure ( BP ) target they should try to achieve .
The st and ard of clinical practice for some time has been < /= 140 - 160/ 90 - 100 mmHg .
New guidelines are recommending BP targets lower than this st and ard .
It is not known whether attempting to achieve targets lower than the st and ard reduces mortality and morbidity .
OBJECTIVES To determine if lower BP targets ( < /= 135/85 mmHg ) are associated with reduction in mortality and morbidity as compared with st and ard BP targets ( < /= 140 - 160/ 90 - 100 mmHg ) .