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 ) .
The Hypertension Optimal Treatment Study (the HOT Study).
The Hypertension Optimal Treatment ( HOT ) Study is a prospect i ve , r and omized , multicenter study which will be conducted in some 20 countries world-wide . Two major issues will be investigated : i ) What is the optimal target diastolic blood pressure during antihypertensive treatment with regard to the reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality ? In order to address this question patients will be r and omized to three different therapeutic goals : a diastolic blood pressure < or = 90 mmHg , < or = 85 mmHg or < or = 80 mmHg ; ii ) The second aim is to evaluate the effect of a low dose acetylsalicylic acid ( ASA , aspirin ) 75 mg o.d . in comparison with placebo on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality . The first aim will be investigated in accordance with the PROBE design ( Prospect i ve R and omized Open Blinded Endpoint evaluation ) , whereas the evaluation of aspirin versus placebo will be conducted under double blind conditions . It is estimated that 1,100 clinical events will be needed in order to answer the question regarding the relationship between target diastolic blood pressure and major cardiovascular events . The collection of these events will require the enrollment of at least 18,000 hypertensive men and women aged 50 - 80 years to be followed for 2.5 years ( about 40,000 patient years ) . All patients will be given felodipine 5 mg o.d . as basic antihypertensive treatment with the addition of a beta-blocker or an ACE-inhibitor in a second step , with further predetermined increments in dosage as required in order to obtain the r and omized therapeutic goal
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 ) .