Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Feb;73(2):187-93.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2011.04092.x.

Pre-hypertension: how low to go and do drugs have a role?

Gordon McInnes  1
Affiliations
Review

Pre-hypertension: how low to go and do drugs have a role?

Gordon McInnes. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

People with pre-hypertension (high blood pressure but below the conventional threshold for intervention with antihypertensive drugs) undoubtedly have increased risk of cardiovascular and other complications. However, the vast majority has low absolute risk and whether treatment would be beneficial is uncertain. While pharmacotherapy has attractions from a public health perspective, clinicians and crucially those with pre-hypertension require robust evidence that drug treatment will lead to short term as well as long term gains. Any changes in recommendations should await adequately powered outcome studies which provide solid evidence of the magnitude of absolute risk reduction in treating pre-hypertension and assessment of the cost-effectiveness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • I Brazilian position paper on prehypertension, white coat hypertension and masked hypertension: diagnosis and management.
    Alessi A, Brandão AA, Paiva AM, Rocha Nogueira Ad, Feitosa A, Campos Gonzaga Cd, Amodeo C, Mion D, Souza Ddo S, Barbosa E, Lima Junior E, Nobre F, Fuchs FD, Chaves Junior H, Schneider JC, Gemelli J, Villela-Martin JF, Scala LC, Gomes MA, Malachias MV, Morais NS, Moreira Filho O, Passarelli Junior O, Jardim PC, Miranda RD, Póvoa R, Fuchs SC, Baiocchi S, Jardim TV, Barroso WK. Alessi A, et al. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2014 Feb;102(2):110-8. doi: 10.5935/abc.20140011. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2014. PMID: 24676366 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
  • Relevance of prehypertension as a diagnostic category in asymptomatic adults.
    Nary FC, Santos RD, Laurinavicius AG, Conceição RD, Carvalho JA. Nary FC, et al. Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2013 Jul-Sep;11(3):303-9. doi: 10.1590/s1679-45082013000300008. Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2013. PMID: 24136756 Free PMC article.
  • Editors' pick 2012.
    Lewis LD, Somogyi A, Loke YK, Ferro A, Cohen AF, Ritter JM. Lewis LD, et al. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2013 Jan;75(1):1-6. doi: 10.1111/bcp.12030. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2013. PMID: 23240642 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

    1. Prospective Studies Collaboration. Age-specific relevance of usual blood pressure to vascular mortality: a meta-analysis of individual data for one million adults in 61 prospective studies. Lancet. 2002;360:1903–13. - PubMed
    1. MacMahon S, Neal B, Rodgers A. Hypertension-time to move on. Lancet. 2005;365:1108–9. - PubMed
    1. Law MR, Morris JK, Wald NJ. Use of blood pressure lowering drugs in the prevention of cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of 147 randomised trials in the context of expectations from prospective epidemiological studies. BMJ. 2009;338:1245–53. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Williams B, Poulter NR, Brown MJ, Davis M, McInnes GT, Potter JF, Sever PS, Thom SMcG. Guidelines for management of hypertension : report of the fourth working party of the British Hypertension Society, 2004 – BHS IV. J Hum Hypertens. 2004;18:139–85. - PubMed
    1. Vasan RS, Larson MG, Leip EP, Evans JC, O'Donnell CJ, Kannel WB, Levy D. Impact of high-normal pressure on the risk of cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med. 2001;345:1291–7. - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances