Treated Hypertension Still Carries Stroke Risk

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, recently published in the journal Stroke, shows that, although high blood pressure (HBP) medications are beneficial for treating hypertension, it is as risky to wait for the condition to develop and then treat it to a controlled level. A cohort of 26,785 black and white participants ages 45-plus from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study were followed for 6.3 years. At baseline, 12,327 participants were successfully treated hypertensives, meaning their HBP treatment had their systolic blood pressure <140 mm HG, the goal level set by the American Heart Association, and 4,090 unsuccessfully treated hypertensives. At the conclusion of the follow-up period, more than 820 participants had experienced a stroke. The harder hypertension is to control, the higher the risk for stroke, even if the treatment is successful. The lead researcher noted that the risk of stroke went up 33 percent with each blood pressure medicine required to treat blood pressure to goal. Compared to people with systolic blood pressure below 120 mmHg without treatment, hypertensive individuals on three or more blood pressure medications had a stroke risk of 2.5 times higher. “You’re in as much trouble by the time you are on three medications that achieve excellent control as you are when you have hypertension and it is untreated, which is amazing,” the study’s lead author said. To learn more about this study, click here.