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 lipids and incidence of coronary heart disease. Findings from the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP).
BACKGROUND The association of serum lipids with coronary heart disease has been studied extensively in middle-aged men and , to a lesser extent , in similar women . Less well defined are lipid variables predictive of CHD in individuals of age > or = 60 years . METHODS AND RESULTS The  Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program recruited 4736 persons ( mean age , 72 years ; 14 % were black ; and 43 % were men ) . Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 170 and 77 mm Hg , respectively . Baseline mean total cholesterol was 6.11 mmol/L ( 236 mg/dL ) ; HDL cholesterol , 1.39 mmol/L ( 54 mg/dL ) ; and non-HDL cholesterol , 4.72 mmol/L ( 182 mg/dL ) . Triglyceride levels  were 1.62 mmol/L ( 144 mg/dL ) for fasting participants and 1.78 mmol/L for the total group . LDL cholesterol , estimated in fasting sample s with triglycerides of < 4.52 mmol/L , averaged 3.98 mmol/L ( 154 mg/dL ) . Mean follow-up was 4.5 years . In multivariate Cox regression analyses , baseline total , non-HDL , and LDL cholesterol levels and the ratios of total , non-HDL , and LDL to HDL cholesterol were significantly related to CHD incidence . HDL cholesterol and triglycerides were not significant in these analyses . In fasting participants with triglyceride levels of < 4.52 mmol/L , a 1.03 mmol/L ( 40 mg/dL ) higher baseline total , non-HDL , or LDL cholesterol was associated with a 30 % to 35 % higher CHD event rate . CONCLUSIONS The results of this study support the concept that serum lipids are CHD risk factors in older Americans
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 .