Hypertension overnight?

29 November 2017 - With more than one billion known cases, arterial hypertension poses a real global health issue. As it is rarely accompanied by symptoms, health care professionals often neglect or diagnose hypertension far too late. If left untreated, it can lead to serious secondary complications and can contribute greatly to premature mortality. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), normal blood pressure is defined as lying between a systolic value of 120 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure of 80 mmHg. Still, measurements which are below normal blood pressure are still considered optimal and cardioprotective. By definition, arterial hypertension starts at a value of 140/90 mmHg. The range between normal blood pressure and mild hypertension has been referred to as "high normal", "elevated" or "prehypertensive".

Since mid-November the previous categories have been put into question. For the first time in 14 years, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) recently defined new guidelines that lowered the threshold for blood pressure. Consequently, stage 1 hypertension starts at 130/80 mmHg, turning more than 30 million people in the US into potential high blood pressure patients overnight.

These two medical associations based their decision on existing evidence that lower blood pressure measurements could effectively contribute to a significant risk reduction -- especially in terms of cardiovascular events. The new guidelines are also intended to increase public awareness of the risks of arterial hypertension, as well as to encourage early measures. Still, the two associations emphasize that their value adjustments will not affect the prescription of new antihypertensive drugs. Instead, they recommend a change in lifestyle for those newly diagnosed with hypertension, first to lower their blood pressure.

It is expected that other specialist associations will follow the example of the US in a timely manner and lower their threshold values as well. The new guidelines attracted a lot of global media attention, which was one of AHA and ACC's goals. Still, it remains to be seen whether these will contribute to a reduction in the number of secondary diseases and complications associated with arterial hypertension. In the end, education, blood pressure monitoring and early treatment are among the most effective measures to fight arterial hypertension and its associated complications.

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Hypertension overnight?

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