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For primary care clinicians, the most publicized practice guideline of 2017 was the hypertension guideline issued jointly by the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and several other organizations (NEJM JW Gen Med Dec 15 2017 and J Am Coll Cardiol 2017 Nov 13; [e-pub]). The full document gives a comprehensive overview of high blood pressure (BP) in adults. However, attention has focused particularly on new diagnostic categories and treatment recommendations, which classify more people as having hypertension or elevated BP and which expand the number of drug-therapy candidates, compared with older guidelines. In brief:
Adults with systolic BP 120–129 mm Hg and diastolic BP <80 mm Hg are labeled as having “elevated bloo…