Do you, or does someone you know, have high blood pressure? Millions of people do. So if you don’t have it, I bet that someone close to you does. If you do have hypertension, is it being treated? And, is it being treated aggressively enough? It may need to be lower.
Traditionally doctors have started patients on medication with a goal of reaching a systolic blood pressure, (the first, and higher, number), of 140 or below. Recent studies have begun to challenge that number. Now in a study of 9,300 patients, 50 years and older, those who were aggressively treated with medications to lower their systolic pressure to 120 had 30% fewer strokes and heart attacks, and a 25% lower risk of death.
What’s your blood pressure? Next time your doctor checks it, or if you have it checked at a pharmacy or mall kiosk, write it down. Take your blood pressure at home and write it down. Keep track. After all, it’s your blood pressure. Then, go over those numbers with your doctor, and discuss whether your systolic blood pressure is low enough. After all, you want to decrease your risk of stroke, heart attack and death, don’t you?
