Blood Pressure Medication can be detrimental in Old Age

Old and frail patients have an increased mortality risk and increased memory problems when their blood pressure is lowered too much through medication. This is what has been discovered by researchers in a large-scale study - thus relativising the official recommendations for antihypertensive medications. Lowering blood pressure by using medication helps many people and saves lives, particularly among patients aged 60 and over. At the same time, the population is ageing - people aged 80 and over constitute the fastest-growing age group in our society, yet, at the same time, prove the hardest group to research. The range of patients is broad: from severely handicapped 75-year-olds who live in nursing homes to 95-year-olds who still participate in sports. However, blood pressure guidelines often ignore this broad spectrum and - as is currently the case in the US - make the generally-accepted recommendation that blood pressure levels among all over-60s should be lowered to below 130mmHg. "The lower the better" is one recommendation which applies for many people, including the elderly, as randomised studies were able to demonstrate.