Seniors put at risk by feds pushing super-low blood pressure numbers

Repackaged blood-pressure studies put millions at risk for dementia

It’s a power play by the Feds that could end up stealing your memories — even your life.

Last year I warned you about how the National Institutes of Health was making a major new blood pressure push.

They have a plan to drive your systolic (top) blood pressure number down to 120 or lower — even though reams of evidence show that could put you on the fast track to Alzheimer’s.

Now the mainstream is claiming that a new study shows that millions of seniors should follow the NIH’s advice and start up on blood pressure meds right away.

But this research has Big Pharma’s grubby fingerprints all over it.

And it’s being led by scientists with drug company connections you were never supposed to know about.

The Alzheimer’s SPRINT

It’s as if nobody at NIH has ever read a drug warning label before.

They’re claiming that it could take three or more meds to hit that magic 120 blood pressure target — even though past research has found that can literally destroy your brain.

You see, back in 2014 it looked like there was still some common sense around. After years of research, a committee made up of some of the top heart docs you can find, said that if you’re 60 or over, a blood-pressure reading up to 150/90 is just fine. No drugs required.

For people under 60, the numbers got bumped up to 140/90.

But pharma-connected researchers have been trying to get those recommendations deep sixed ever since. And they’re hoping that SPRINT, a trial held at five universities around the U.S., will do just that.

First, the lineup of SPRINT researchers pushing this pill agenda are no strangers to Big Pharma’s bucks. They work with the likes of Merck, Novartis, Takeda and Abbvie.

Dr. Suzanne Oparil, for example, who was in charge of the University of Alabama SPRINT trial, listed eight drugmakers that she’s associated with. Her disclosures read like a who’s who in the pharma world.

And although these pharma-friendly docs tried to get some excitement going on this 120 target last year, I guess that wasn’t enough. Because now they’re trying even harder.

One group just released a study saying that seniors over 75, even those considered “frail” and in poor health should be using “intensive BP control” to get those numbers down below 120.

Are you kidding me? What about loads of research finding that can be a one-way ticket to dementia and Alzheimer’s? How did they deal with that?

They didn’t.

Dr. Alfred Cheung, of the SPRINT research group in Salt Lake City (who has taken consulting, travel and speaking fees from Merck and Amgen) said that they don’t know how these super low blood pressure levels will affect a senior’s thinking and memory.

Those studies will be done sometime in the future — as in after you and everyone you know is taking blood pressure meds.

Can you believe it?

I’m sorry Dr. Cheung, but scores of research is already out on that topic. And it’s telling us that what you and your fellow SPRINTers are calling for is the dirtiest trick yet to be played on seniors.

But don’t think you’re home free if you’re under 75. Because SPRINT has a little something for everyone up its sleeve.

Another just-released study using the SPRINT data is trying to convince doctors that their patients who are 35 to 74 should use that same “intensive” drug therapy to get to 120 or below. Why, that should give millions of younger people a good head start on dementia!

It’s obvious that this entire SPRINT fiasco was planned and executed for one reason:

To just about guarantee that everyone and their uncle will be popping blood pressure drugs like popcorn.

Sources:
“NIH study confirms benefits of intensive blood pressure management among seniors aged 75 and older” NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, May 19, 2016, eurekalert.org