For many patients with high blood pressure, it’s time to put BP meds behind you forever

The blood pressure scandal revealed — finally

You’ve been eating the same, exercising the same, and your blood pressure is exactly the same as it was a couple weeks ago.

So why is it that you suddenly don’t have “high blood pressure” anymore?

Well, it’s because you never did.

Fear of falling

Let me explain.

You see, your “abnormal” blood pressure might have been quite normal all along. But based on arbitrary guidelines, you were probably bullied into taking potentially dangerous meds.

A new report from the mainstream reveals that people aged 60 and above who have high blood pressure (140 over 90) don’t need to take blood pressure drugs unless their level reaches 150 over 90.

I’ll tackle that in a bit, but first…

This “news” shouldn’t shock anyone (except maybe drug company executives). Two years ago, a large study determined that about 100 million blood pressure patients in the U.S. are unnecessarily classified as abnormal.

In other words, blood pressure drugs are greatly overprescribed — especially if you’re older.

A committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute issued the report, surprising their mainstream cronies. But true to form, committee members soft-pedaled their recommendation by noting that they weren’t suggesting a new lower limit for high blood pressure. That still stands at 140 over 90. (More on that later, too!)

They say their concern is that treating older patients aggressively with BP drugs can cause fainting, and that increases risk of falls.

Of course, falling is a major health issue for older people. But the committee is ignoring other grave risks. We’ll start with this one: type 2 diabetes.

A few years ago I told you about a Harvard study published in the journal Diabetes Care. The Harvard team found that two widely used BP drugs (thiazide diuretics and beta-blockers) sharply increased type 2 diabetes risk.

Among 75,00 subjects, risk shot up to 36 percent in men. The danger was somewhat lower, but still significant for older women.

Other research has linked various BP drugs to risk of lung cancer and age-related macular degeneration.

So if you’re a taking blood pressure meds, especially if you’re over 60, call your doctor NOW to talk about getting off of your drugs ASAP.

Sources:
“2014 Evidence-Based Guideline for the Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: Report From the Panel Members Appointed to the Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8)” Journal of the American Medical Association, Published online ahead of print 12/18/13, jama.jamanetwork.com

“New guidelines for management of high blood pressure released” The JAMA Network Journals press release, 12/18/13, eurekalert.org