BMJ  2007;335:408-409 (1 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39310.540683.80

Editorials

Reassessing normal blood pressure

Blood pressure should be evaluated and treated in the context of overall cardiovascular risk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease is now the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with mortality exceeding that for the traditional scourges of infectious diseases, trauma, and malnutrition.¹ Evidence suggests that most of the burden of disease is caused by unfavourable levels of several easily identified risk factors: arterial blood pressure, blood lipids, glucose concentrations, body mass index, tobacco use, and physical activity.²

Outcomes can be improved by selective interventions that drive risk factors towards optimum levels, but important questions remain about which risk factors should be treated, in which patients, to what levels, and by what means. The study in this week's BMJ by Conen and colleagues³ helps to answer some of these questions. It compares cardiovascular risk over two years in women with high normal blood pressure (130-139/85-89 mm Hg) to those with normal blood pressure (120-129/75-84 mm Hg) and those with baseline hypertension. It found that women with . . . [Full text of this article]

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Box 1118, New York, NY 10029, USA

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sleath, J. D (2007). Here's to risk assessment. BMJ 335: 577-578 [Full text]  
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