Blood pressure drugs help elderly

Treating people of over 80 years with blood pressure drugs cuts the risk of strokes and heart problems, a study says.

The Imperial College London research, involving 3,845 patients with high blood pressure, found drug treatment reduced their death rates by a fifth.

Some doctors believe higher blood pressure readings in older people are natural and therefore do not treat it.

But the researchers and other experts said they should be offered drugs, the New England Journal of Medicine said.

Two thirds of people over 80 have high blood pressure, which increases the risk of strokes and heart problems.

The participants in the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial, which was stopped early because of the positive results, were either given a dummy pill or a combination of blood pressure drugs.

The results showed that within a year of treatment, there was a 21 per cent reduction in death rates and a 64 per cent drop in heart failure, 39 per cent drop in stroke deaths and 34 per cent reduction in cardiovascular events.

Lead researcher Professor Christopher Bulpitt said: "Before our study, doctors were unsure about whether very elderly people with high blood pressure could see the same benefits from treatment to lower their blood pressure as those we see in younger people.

"Our results clearly show that many patients aged 80 and over could benefit greatly from treatment.

"Populations are living longer and we have growing numbers of people living well into their 80s and beyond, so this is good news. We are very pleased that cardiovascular events were reduced safely with a reduction in total mortality."

Professor Graham MacGregor, of the Blood Pressure Association, agreed elderly people should be given treatment.

"We need to ensure that, where appropriate, their blood pressure is treated and controlled."

Source: BBC