Newswise — High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is one of the biggest risk factors for severe health consequences such as kidney disease, heart attack, and stroke. If high blood pressure is detected during a primary care visit, many effective therapies are available, including oral antihypertensive medicines. But when someone in the emergency room or the hospital has high blood pressure without signs of acute organ damage, the best course of action is much less clear.
Now, Adam Bress, PharmD, associate professor and vice chair of research for population health sciences in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, has chaired an American Heart Association Scientific Statement to guide how doctors can best take care of people who have high blood pressure while they’re in the hospital. Aggressive treatment of high blood pressure without evidence of target organ damage for hospitalized patients may do more harm than good, the statement says, and doctors should avoid starting an intensive anti-hypertensive treatment regime unless necessary. Context matters Part of the issue, Bress explains, is that people in an acute care setting experience a lot of factors that could make their blood pressure higher.
“When you’re in the hospital, you’re usually there for an acute process, like pneumonia or a blood clot, and you’re subject to abnormal living conditions—sleep and diet and stress—which can affect blood pressure.” What’s more.
