Health debate

Should we all take blood pressure tablets?

By Yours Health Expert

Health

16 June 2009 13:07

New research suggests many lives could be saved if everyone over 55 was treated for blood pressure. Yours investigates!

A leading medical expert is proposing a radical shift in the way high blood pressure is treated. Professor Malcolm Law says everyone aged over 55 should be given blood pressure tablets – whether they need them or not.

Reducing the risk of stroke and heart attack
Professor Law, from the Wolfson Institute at Barts and the London Medical School, says this could save lives. His findings are based on examining more than 150 studies into the effects of blood pressure-lowering medication. He found that treatments such as beta blockers and ACE inhibitors reduced the risk of a stroke by a third and heart attacks by 25 per cent, regardless of whether a person’s blood pressure was high or not.

“Beyond a certain age, everyone would benefit from drugs that lower blood pressure because it prevents a lot of heart attacks and strokes.”
Professor Law says treating everyone over 55 would ‘mop up’ cases that are being missed because people don’t get their blood pressure checked regularly. “High blood pressure is a ‘silent’ killer because many people don’t know they have it until they have a heart attack or stroke. We use the vaccine analogy: why wait to get ill when you can take medication to prevent it?”

Beating the silent killer
He added that side effects from blood pressure pills affected less than four per cent of patients and these could be minimised by using a half dosage of the three different types of blood pressure -lowering medication.

Professor Law claims costs would be minimal because most commonlyprescribed blood pressure pills only cost ‘pence’. But he predicted in the New research suggests many lives could be saved if everyone over 55 was treated for blood pressure. Yours investigates future a new poly-pill combining aspirin and cholesterol and blood pressure-lowering drugs could be made available. “These drugs are already available in India; drug companies here could make them tomorrow but they have to go through licensing trials in Europe first,” he said.

But some doctors have criticised professor Law’s ideas. Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, said: “Every drug has risks attached to it and blood pressure medication in particular has a number of potential side effects.”

Be responsible - change your lifestyle!
He said side effects of blood pressure drugs include tiredness, breathing difficulties, passing a lot of urine and a long lasting dry cough. “Why take these drugs if you don’t need them and turn a whole generation of people into patients? Surely it’s better for individuals to take more responsibility for their own health by changing their lifestyle to reduce their risk rather than rely on the NHS to bail them out?”

Mike Rich, executive director of the Blood Pressure Association, said: “Prevention is better than cure, but there are other proven ways to prevent high blood pressure such as healthy eating and regular exercise, which have other health benefits too.”

Jonathan Mant, professor of general practice at Cambridge University said: “Age is a risk factor for high blood pressure so the idea of treating everyone over a certain age may be the way forward. The important thing to bear in mind is that this would be voluntary – no–one would be forced to take it – it would be your choice.