New guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) with lower thresholds for blood pressure could help stroke survivors avoid another stroke and death, according to a study published online in the Journal of the American Heart Association on June 6.
In 2003, the seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7) issued guidelines that defined high blood pressure—which is strongly associated with stroke and death from stroke—as 140 mm Hg or higher for systolic blood pressure and 90 mm Hg or higher for diastolic blood pressure.
Many scientists believe this greater awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure has been a major factor in the decline in fatal strokes over the past few decades.
In 2017, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology issued new guidelines that recommended treating people for high blood pressure if their blood pressure was 130 over 80 or higher.
On behalf of the AHA, researchers from the University of South Carolina sought to estimate the number of stroke survivors who still had high blood pressure that required treatment if defined by the AHA/ACC guidelines versus JNC7 guidelines.
The researchers examined 10 years of stroke survivor data, including age, race, and treatment for high blood pressure, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.
By the standards of the AHA/ACC guidelines, 67 percent more stroke survivors would be diagnosed with high blood pressure. And the number of stroke survivors not at their target blood pressure would increase by 54 percent compared to JNC7 guidelines.
The researchers conclude that implementing the newer AHA/ACC guidelines will result in more stroke survivors being treated earlier for high blood pressure with medication and lifestyle modifications.