Blood Pressure Review Call – Targets at 130/80 or less compared to the current 140/90

New Delhi: Indian doctors treating patients with high blood pressure should revise the target values ​​to 130/80 or less from the current 140/90, A high blood pressure specialist said, citing new US and European guidelines.

Blood pressure levels above 130/80 should be considered as an "alarm signal" for disease progression and complications of hypertension, said C. Venkata S. Ram Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, and founding member of the American Society of Hypertension

The cardiologists say that such a review would mean that tens of thousands of people across the country should look for ways to "get rid of it." lowering their blood pressure, but not

The Indian Hypertension Guidelines, published in 2013 in the Journal of the Association of Doctors of India define blood pressure levels between 130- 139 / 80-89 as "normal hig h", 120-129 / less than 80 as "normal", and less than 120 / less than 80 as "optimal".

These guidelines have prompted some doctors to display readings slightly lower than 140/90 – for example, 137/88 "That must change, the goal should be 130/80 or less," said Ram, who argued, in a commentary published Sunday in the Indian Heart Journal that 130-80 should be the "non-negotiable therapeutic goal" for Indians.

Panels of experts from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association converged around 130/80 as a common treatment goal in November 2017, and the European Cardiovascular Society and the European Society of Hypertension followed suit in June 2018.

"Given our huge burden of untreated or poorly treated hypertension, these guidelines are even more relevant to us in India," explains Ram The Telegraph .

Untreated or poorly treated hypertension can lead to heart disease, stroke, fatal kidney damage. The National Family Health Survey of India, a national government exercise, revealed that in 2015-16, 11% of men and 7% of women had blood pressure values ​​greater than 140/90.

Studies have suggested that only half of patients with hypertension are diagnosed in time. About half of the people diagnosed do not receive adequate treatment for a variety of reasons and half of them do not reach their target blood pressure. # Cardiologists say that a 130/80 target would dramatically increase the number of patients who would need to control their blood pressure levels.

They also claim that not all patients need to start drug treatment. "Blood pressure readings need to be taken carefully, and repeated for reliability," said Brian Pinto, senior cardiologist at Holy Family Hospital, Mumbai.

"Patients must first be recommended diet control, weight loss, salt, exercise and quitting smoking Studies have established that lifestyle changes can lower blood pressure by six to ten points. "