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Experts Talk About: Treatment Benefits

Dr. Roccella: Henry, you mentioned that there is evidence showing the benefits of treating hypertension.  What kinds of evidence are you talking about?

Dr. Black: Well, we consider our major evidence to come from large, well-designed, usually controlled trials and we have dozens and dozens of these now, which have made the point clear: As we lower blood pressure, the rate of strokes, heart failure, heart attacks, and probably kidney disease and dementia as well -- although that is not as quite as clear -- goes down accordingly.  So that is the rationale for treatment.

Dr. Roccella: So you are telling us that there are studies which show that by treating hypertension, you can actually prevent strokes and heart attacks, and possibly kidney failure and dementia?

Dr. Black: Yes, that is pretty well established.  In fact, I think hypertension is the poster child for the value of clinical trials.  We take people with an elevated blood pressure, we compare either different regimens or a placebo, and we show that the rates of stroke and other events decrease, regardless of age or gender.  That is the purpose of why we do this.

Dr. Roccella: What are we taking about in terms of the benefits of treating hypertension? Are we just going to lower our chances of heart disease or stroke by 1 percent or is the advantage substantial?

Dr. Black: For strokes, the data is pretty convincing that there is a 40 percent to 50 percent reduction. For heart failures, it is more like 50 to 60 percent. For heart attacks, it is about 20 to 25 percent. So these are very profound and robust changes that we have achieved.

Dr. Roccella: Those are pretty powerful numbers.

Dr. Black: Yes they are.  And for some reason we do not focus enough on them.  We've got to make sure that everybody realizes how important reducing blood pressure is.

Ms. Houston Miller: The good news also is that even if we cannot get people to their blood pressure goal levels, there is still a very significant reduction in risk when we can lower blood pressure by even 10 percent, 20 percent, and 30 percent. This is an important point.

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Click these links to read more from Sister to Sister’s Expert Roundtable on High Blood Pressure:

Introduction
Blood Pressure Basics
Symptoms & Screening
Treatment Benefits
Treatment Options
Drug Side Effects
Drug Interactions
Medication Costs
Prehypertension
Aging's Impact
High-Risk Groups
Future Goals