Study Questions Whether Treating Mild Hypertension Benefits Patients

By Kelly Young

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD

For low-risk patients with mild hypertension, starting antihypertensive drug treatment might not reduce mortality, according to a JAMA Internal Medicine study. The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association currently recommend that all patients with systolic blood pressure at or above 140 mm Hg or diastolic BP at or above 90 mm Hg receive antihypertensive therapy.

Using U.K. electronic medical records, researchers matched 19,000 adults with mild hypertension (140/90-159/99 mm Hg) and low cardiovascular risk who received antihypertensive medication to another 19,000 who weren't treated. During a median 6 years' follow-up, rates of mortality and cardiovascular disease were similar between the groups. Antihypertensive treatment was, however, associated with higher risk for hypotension, syncope, electrolyte abnormalities, and acute kidney injury.

See what Dr. Thomas Schwenk has to say about this study in NEJM Journal Watch General Medicine in the coming days.