ASH: Lower Blood Pressure Not Always Better in Heart Disease

Still think they have any idea what is going on?

"Blood pressure that is too low raises cardiovascular risk for coronary heart disease patients even when other risk factors are controlled, researchers found.

The J-shaped curve in which major cardiovascular event rates drop dramatically with blood pressure up to a certain point and then rebound has been a debated aspect of antihypertensive trials for more than 20 years.

Now the controversial curve has appeared even in a lipid-lowering trial without blood pressure management, Franz Messerli, M.D., of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, and colleagues reported.

Their aggressive statin treatment trial showed a threefold increased risk for patients at or below the 110-mm Hg systolic threshold or the 60-mm Hg diastolic threshold, they reported here at the American Society of Hypertension meeting."

Better to be fit than medicated or surgerized.