Loading...
Some authorities recommend selective use of antihypertensive drugs based on patient age. For example, some recommend angiotensin-converting–enzyme inhibitors and β-blockers as initial blood-pressure-lowering drugs for younger patients and diuretics for older patients because younger patients tend to have higher renin levels than do older patients. However, little evidence supports this recommendation. In this meta-analysis of 31 prospective randomized trials that involved more than 190,000 patients, investigators compared relative risk reductions for cardiovascular events (stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart failure) associated with various antihypertensive drug regimens in younger (age, <65) versus older (age, ≥65) adults.
In trials t…