A new study on hypertension published in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that people aged 60 and over might be able to handle higher blood pressure readings, according to a CNN report.
Hypertension - which can lead to strokes, heart attack, kidney failure and death - now has a new set of guidelines how it can be managed, the report said.
Traditionally, doctors try to keep their patients' blood pressure below 140 (systolic)/ 90 (diastolic). Anything that goes beyond this reading may lead to fatal results. But after reviewing evidence, a panel of experts found that the systolic number can be higher at 150/90. The experts suggest that patients, especially those aged 60 and above, no longer need to be under medication. This means fewer medications, lower doses, and millions of people would no longer need maintenance treatments.
The experts were asked how many people could be affected by this new finding, but they couldn't give an exact number except that it will be in millions.
Dr. Paul Munter, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said on Thursday, December 19, that out of 51 million Americans over the age of 60, 7.4 million are covered by the new safe range of the study. The safe blood pressure range is between 140/90 and 149/90, according to The New York Times.
Munter derived the figure based on an analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey. The survey is a federal study that combines one-on-one interviews and health exams to collect health data of Americans, the Times reported.
With respect to other sections of the hypertension guidelines, the group of 17 experts said there is no cause to change the guidelines.
"There is strong evidence to support treating hypertensive persons aged 60 years or older to a BP goal of less than 150/90 and hypertensive persons 30 through 59 years of age to a diastolic goal of less than 90," the report said.
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