Early treatment is now advised for hypertension — before blood pressure gets too high

New recommendations for early curen for millions of group pinch hypertension travel astatine a clip erstwhile a caller experimental medicine is shown to little humor unit successful hard-to-treat patients.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

More than half of Americans aged 40 and complete person precocious humor pressure. There are typically nary symptoms, but near untreated, it tin beryllium deadly. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports connected caller recommendations aimed astatine prevention and a caller experimental supplier that experts opportunity has immoderate promising results.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: When George Solomon was told astir nan risks of precocious humor pressure, he was hesitant to return medications because he felt wholly fine. Then astatine property 63, he had a stroke.

GEORGE SOLOMON: I'd been progressive each time outside. I'd been to nan gym. And past astatine 7:30 that night, I went upstairs to watch a movie, and erstwhile I sat down successful nan chair, I couldn't get backmost up. I had a sensation that came up crossed my back.

AUBREY: He mislaid emotion successful his limb and his limb and was rushed to nan hospital. After months of recovery, he regained overmuch of his strength, and he's taking medications.

SOLOMON: I americium emotion healthier. I deliberation that successful operation pinch nan manner and weight reduction, much cardio, still doing nan spot training - yes, it makes a large difference.

AUBREY: New guidelines from nan American Heart Association attraction connected early prevention. Dr. Dan Jones, who chaired nan committee that wrote nan guidelines, says it tin beryllium beneficial to commencement humor unit medications arsenic soon arsenic humor unit hits nan risky range.

DAN JONES: For each group pinch a humor unit complete 140 complete 90 millimeters of mercury, we urge opening pinch 2 medications.

AUBREY: The caller guidelines besides stress manner strategies, including a low-sodium diet, workout and accent simplification successful nan shape of meditation, yoga aliases heavy breathing. For group pinch systolic humor unit - that's nan precocious number successful nan 130s - nan proposal is to commencement pinch these changes, past move to medicine if it does not improve.

Dr. Jordy Cohen is simply a nephrologist and a hypertension master astatine nan University of Pennsylvania. She says millions of adults successful nan U.S. could use from medications and manner changes.

JORDY COHEN: There's a really tremendous preventive wellness opportunity successful treating hypertension earlier 'cause if you drawback it early, you dainty it early, you really tin extremity up pinch galore much years of patient life expectancy wherever you don't person a stroke, wherever you don't person a bosom onslaught aliases bosom nonaccomplishment because you've treated this earlier.

AUBREY: Some group don't get capable simplification pinch existent medications, truthful Jordy Cohen says there's a batch of liking successful a caller people of medicine that useful by targeting nan hormone aldosterone, which helps modulate fluid and sodium successful nan body. Too overmuch of nan hormone is 1 origin of precocious humor pressure. She points to caller data.

COHEN: The caller study that was released successful nan New England Journal of Medicine shows that this caller people of medications very, very efficaciously little humor unit erstwhile utilized successful group who person difficult-to-control hypertension.

AUBREY: It's 1 of respective studies of nan supplier baxdrostat, which is not yet connected nan market. Drug makers scheme to stock information pinch regulators by nan extremity of nan year.

COHEN: In hypertension, we haven't seen thing caller since nan '90s that was effective.

AUBREY: So she says caller curen options would beryllium very helpful. Dr. Jenifer Brown, a cardiologist astatine Brigham and Women's Hospital, is 1 of nan researchers down nan caller study, which was sponsored by nan supplier shaper AstraZeneca and included astir 800 group who were taking 2 to 3 medications but still had precocious humor pressure.

JENIFER BROWN: What we saw is that aft 12 weeks of treatment, location was astir a 10-point betterment successful humor unit successful nan patients treated pinch baxdrostat complete nan placebo effect.

AUBREY: A 10-point driblet is linked to astir a 20% simplification successful nan consequence of bosom attacks and strokes and besides a decreased consequence of dementia.

Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

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