Guidelines

VIDEO: Is JNC 8’s hypertension treatment threshold too high?


 

AT THE INTERNATIONAL STROKE CONFERENCE

NASHVILLE, TENN. – Last year, the Eighth Joint National Committee revised upward its classification of hypertension in healthy adults aged 60 years and older, recommending treatment when systolic pressure hits at least 150 mm Hg, or diastolic pressure reaches at least 90 mm Hg.

But raising the treatment cut point by 10 mm Hg from the earlier JNC 7 recommendations is a bad idea, Dr. Ralph L. Sacco warned at the International Stroke Conference – very bad, in fact.

And Dr. Sacco, the Olemberg Family Chair in Neurological Disorders at the University of Miami, said he has the data to prove it.

In a video interview at the meeting, Dr. Sacco outlined the findings from a new study exploring the stroke risks of patients who might find themselves now deemed normotensive under the JNC 8 hypertension guidelines.

msullivan@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @alz_gal

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