Evening dosing of blood pressure medication not better than morning dosing

man taking medication Taking blood pressure medication in the evening is no better than taking it in the morning to protect against heart attack, stroke and vascular death, according to a large UK study involving UCL researchers. Professor Bryan Williams (UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science), who is also Director of Research at UCLH, is a member of the steering committee for the TIME trial, which involved more than 21,000 patients over five years. The results of the trial should reassure patients that they can take their medication when it suits them. More than one billion people have high blood pressure worldwide, and high blood pressure is the leading global cause of premature death. But there has been a big unresolved question around the timing of blood pressure medication. There had been claims that people should take their medicine at night. Night-time blood pressure is a better predictor of cardiovascular outcomes than daytime blood pressure, and there was a suggestion that evening dosing of medication reduced night-time blood pressure to a greater extent.