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Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2009;302(10):1047-1048.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Conventional wisdom on treating hypertension argues that the greater the reduction in patient blood pressure, the better the outcome. Now, a contrarian view is gaining traction.

This view holds that there are limits to the benefits of reducing blood pressure in patients with hypertension and that continued efforts to lower it beyond various targets only increases cost and inconvenience for the patient.

A new review suggests that treating hypertension to aggressive target levels does not result in outcomes that are better than those achieved with standard treatment.

The latest counterargument to lower-is-better comes from a Cochrane Collaboration review that assessed 7 hypertension treatment trials involving more than 22 000 participants. The authors concluded that compared with standard therapy, treating patients' blood pressure levels to targets of lower than 140 to 160 mm Hg systolic and 90 to 100 mm Hg diastolic, while reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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