130/80 is the new normal in blood pressure? Call for revision of Indian documents

Indian doctors have advocated a revision of blood pressure values ​​to 130/80 or less compared to the current 140/90, citing new US and European guidelines.

C. Venkata S. Ram, senior consultant at Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, and founding member of the American Society of Hypertension estimates that blood pressure levels greater than 130/80 should be considered a "signal" "Alert" of the imminent progression of the disease and complications of hypertension.

The Indian Hypertension Guidelines, published in 2013 in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, define blood pressure levels between 130-139 / 80-89 as "high normal," 120-129 / less than 80 as "normal", and less than 120 / less than 80 as "optimal".
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With such guidelines, many doctors end up considering that view readings slightly below 140/90 – for example, 137/88 – are acceptable.
"That has to change, the goal should be 130/80 or less," said Ram, who argued, in a comment Sunday published in the Indian Heart Journal, that 130-80 should be "l & rsquo; "Non-negotiable therapeutic goal" for Indians.

Hypertension is the most prevalent public health problem contributing to the maximum number of deaths and illnesses. Our understanding of hypertension has been dynamic and concepts need to be constantly redefined in light of new evidence and discoveries.

Untreated hypertension can result in a higher incidence of heart disease in an individual, stroke, and even fatal kidney damage.

Studies have suggested that only about half of Indian patients with hypertension are diagnosed in time. Even when a patient was diagnosed with blood pressure, it was observed that he was not receiving adequate treatment for a variety of reasons.

Panels of experts from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association converged on the 130/80 as a common therapeutic goal in November 2017, and the European Society of Cardiology and the European Society of Hypertension affirmed the same observation in 2018. [19659004] These guidelines find greater resonance in the context of India, which is heavily burdened by many cases of hypertension untreated or poorly treated.

According to cardiologists, a review of the value of blood pressure at a 130/80 target would greatly increase the viability of the thousands of patients who need to assess and control their blood pressure.

While the reading of blood pressure is a critical step that is repeated for reliability and confirmation, not all cases of blood pressure will require medical treatment.

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