Blood pressure not being controlled in elderly

• This study shows that while the rate of high blood pressure increased with age, numbers of people receiving treatment for the condition did not.
• Seventy-four percent of people age 80 and older had high blood pressure, compared with 63 percent of those age 60 to 79 and 27 percent of those under the age of 60.
• However, less than two thirds of hypertensive patients in the two older age groups received treatment.
• High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a major risk factor for the development of heart disease and a leading cause of many life-threatening conditions such as stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.
• "Many more men and women are now living healthy and active lives into their 80s and 90s.
• Investigators from the Framingham Heart Study, a landmark epidemiological study that began in 1948, analyzed data from its original cohort of participants, enrolled in 1948-1952, and their offspring, enrolled 1971-1973.
• High blood pressure was defined as a systolic blood pressure of greater or equal to 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg, or taking medication for reducing blood pressure.
• According to the authors, the data suggest that the poor control rates may be due in part to poor selection of drug classes or from the use of a single drug for therapy.
• Guidelines issued by NHLBI's NHBPEP state that most high blood pressure patients will require two or more medications to get blood pressure down to target levels, and that a diuretic should be one of the medications used.
• Diuretics have been shown to be more beneficial in lowering blood pressure and protecting against adverse complications of hypertension.
• The NHLBI's hypertension guidelines are available online in the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure.