Impact of 2017 Blood Pressure Guidelines on Stroke Survivors

Understanding Hypertension

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is characterized by a systolic blood pressure exceeding 140 mmHg or a diastolic pressure above 90 mmHg. This condition significantly elevates the risk of stroke, which is associated with a high mortality rate. Effective pharmacological treatments are available to manage both hypertension and its complications, including stroke.

Awareness and Guidelines

Increased awareness of blood pressure has played a crucial role in reducing stroke incidents. In 2017, the American Heart Association revised its blood pressure guidelines, lowering the threshold for hypertension to a systolic blood pressure of 130 mmHg and a diastolic pressure of 80 mmHg. This adjustment was supported by evidence showing improved health outcomes for patients with other conditions related to elevated blood pressure.

Study Overview

A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in June 2018 examined the implications of these new guidelines for stroke survivors. Researchers compared the updated guidelines with the previous Joint National Committee Seventh Report (JNC7). The analysis included data from over 6 million participants aged 20 and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, conducted over a decade from 2003 to 2014.

Findings of the Study

The study revealed that the 2017 guidelines would result in approximately 67% more stroke survivors being diagnosed with high blood pressure. Implementing these guidelines could potentially reduce the mortality rate among these patients from 8.3% to 5.3%.

Author Information

This article was written by Dr. Apollina Sharma, MBBS, GradDip EXMD.

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References

Lekoubou A, Bishu K, Ovbiagele B. Nationwide Impact of the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Blood Pressure Guidelines on Stroke Survivors. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2018;7(12).

Following new blood pressure guidelines could prevent deaths among stroke survivors [Internet]. American Heart Association. 2018 [cited 20 September 2018]. Available from: https://hbpleaders.heart.org/following-new-blood-pressure-guidelines-could-prevent-deaths-among-stroke-survivors/