In this blog, Dr Katerina Kassavou reports that more patients with high blood pressure took their medications as prescribed and experienced lower blood pressure after participating in a behavioural intervention in primary care called the Programme on Adherence to Medication, compared with patients who had normal care. In the UK around a third of adults […]
Less is more? Deprescribing blood pressure lowering medications is safe in the short-term in older people with frailty and multiple long-term conditions
GPs can safely reduce the number of antihypertensive medications taken by some older people without substantial changes to blood pressure control, finds new research from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Southampton. See key messages for clinicians and healthcare commissioners here A potential major consequence of lockdown measures introduced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic is […]
Research Alert: Treatment for moderately high blood pressure may be best saved for those at high risk
The largest study yet of people with mild hypertension shows that medical treatment may not be worthwhile in those at low risk of heart attack and stroke. Download this Research Alert as a pdf, for printing. Key messages This study provided no evidence to suggest that new US hypertension guidelines will reduce CVD events in […]
Treatment for moderately high blood pressure may be best saved for those at high risk
The largest study of people with mild hypertension shows that medical treatment may not be worthwhile in those who are at low risk of heart attack and stroke. An observational study of patients with mild hypertension has found no evidence to support recent US guideline recommendations that encourage doctors to offer treatment to patients with […]
New tool reduces the need for 24-hour blood pressure monitors in general practice
A new prediction tool for managing patients with suspected high blood pressure in primary care could reduce by half the number of people needing to wear 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitors to confirm a diagnosis of hypertension. Published today in the BMJ, a study led by Oxford and Birmingham University researchers, with Professor Jonathan Mant, […]
Home-based blood pressure monitoring should be commonplace in NHS, say researchers
General Practitioners should encourage patients with hypertension to monitor their blood pressure at home and use those readings in their day-to-day care, recommend a team of experts writing in The Lancet. From the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham, the researchers report on a trial showing that when GPs base their medication adjustments on regular […]