Blood Pressure Medicines Reduce Stroke Risk in People with Prehypertension, Study Suggests

Blood Pressure Medicines Reduce Stroke Risk in People with Prehypertension, Study Suggests
Tuesday, December 27, 2011

ScienceDaily

People with prehypertension had a lower risk of stroke when they took blood pressure–lowering medicines, according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Prehypertension, which affects more than 50 million adults in the United States, is blood pressure ranging between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg. Hypertension is 140/90 mm Hg or higher.

"Our study pertains to people with prehypertensive blood pressure levels and shows that the excess risk of stroke associated with these high-normal readings (top number 120-140) can be altered by taking blood pressure pills," said Ilke Sipahi, MD, lead author of the study and associate director of Heart Failure and Transplantation at the Harrington-McLaughlin Heart and Vascular Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.