Blood pressure treatment benefits elderly people

This news item was added on 1st April 2008

Elderly people with hypertension can benefit from taking blood pressure-lowering treatment, new research suggests.

According to emeritus professor Christopher Bulpitt, lead investigator at Imperial College London, doctors were unsure as to whether very elderly people with high blood pressure would gain the same benefits from treatment as younger patients.

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

The researchers, whose findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine, investigated the impact of the diuretic drug indapamide slow release (SR) in 3,845 patients over the age of 80.

They achieved a 21 per cent reduction in total mortality rate, a 39 per cent fall in stroke mortality, a 64 per cent drop in heart failures, and a 34 per cent decrease in cardiovascular events.

"Populations are living longer and we have growing numbers of people living well into their 80s and beyond, so this is good news," said Professor Bulpitt.

He concluded: "We are very pleased that cardiovascular events were reduced safely with a reduction in total mortality."