Whats the Best Blood Pressure for Older Adults?

hello all you healthy blood pressure warriors my name is ingrid and i want to welcome you to the healthy blood pressure dot com channel bodies are so different yet all perform the same basic functions however are there considerations and standards that are different when we age when we talk about blood pressure we talk about whether it's high or low we determine that by comparing the blood pressure readings to the general guidelines in this video i'm going to talk about the best blood pressure readings for older adults if you're beyond 65 and have high blood pressure you might already be on medication or maybe you're just starting on medication and are wondering what your target blood pressure should be general guidelines mention 120 over 80 as the right blood pressure readings for adults this means that the systolic blood pressure should be 120 or below systolic blood pressure is the pressure with which your heart pumps blood into your vessels and the diastolic blood pressure should be 80 or below diastolic blood pressure is the pressure in your vessels when the heart rests between beats but are these readings the same for older people there have been studies and debates around this topic the scientific communities have also reviewed the guidelines for older adults let's look at these guidelines and then we'll discuss the research studies on the topic previous and revised guidelines in 2013 experts had issued new guidelines to detect high blood pressure for younger adults a reading of 140 over 90 meant that they have high blood pressure for those above 65 these readings were 150 over 80. however in 2017 several health organizations came together to revise these guidelines they've now set the threshold for high blood pressure at 130 over 80. these guidelines remain for all adults irrespective of their age so now if you're an older adult you may need to think about your readings this is because if your systolic blood pressure is 140 previously it would have been normal but now you'll be classified as a high blood pressure patient a couple of studies in recent years brought about these changes in the guidelines the most influential of these studies was the sprint study let's talk about the sprint study in a little more detail sprint stands for systolic blood pressure intervention trial and the results of the study were published in 2015.

the study included 9 306 people all of them were 50 years or older the average age of the participants was 68 all of them had a systolic blood pressure of 130 or more they also were at risk of heart and related illnesses the study excluded people with diabetes dementia and past stroke experiences researchers divided the participants into two random groups they subjected the first group to intensive treatment for high blood pressure this means that the physicians prescribed stronger medications to keep their systolic blood pressure below 120. the second group had a more relaxed goal they received medication to maintain their systolic blood pressure at or below 140. after the first year the average upper reading of the first group was 121.

4 the same reading for the second group was 136. 2 the study went on for three years all through the years the researchers monitored the two groups for side effects chronic conditions heart conditions and death after three years the researchers noted that per year only 1. 65 of the participants in the first group had severe cardiovascular illnesses this percentage was higher in the second group at 2.

19 percent but they also noted that side effects from medications and other complications were slightly higher in the first group these side effects included low blood pressure passing out kidney failure and lack of balance in electrolytes of the body let's look at other studies a larger meta-study was published in 2017. this study looked through the research database and found four more randomized clinical studies on high blood pressure in older adults the study showed similar results as the sprint study where intensive blood pressure treatment reduced the risk of cardiovascular diseases in another study published in 2021 8511 chinese patients participated the goal was similar to that of the sprint study in three years the intensive treatment group in this study had 3. 5 percent of participants fall ill or die of heart ailments in the standard treatment group this number was 4.

6 percent as for side effects the first group showed more hypotension or low blood pressure and both groups remain similar with other side effects so what are the right numbers what should the ideal readings be for an older adult well a lot of doctors prefer the traditional approach of treating the patient based on their history the sprint study showed that a systolic blood pressure of 120 is beneficial but that might mean too many medications for some people managing side effects is also important especially those of low blood pressure in addition the study excluded a lot of other health conditions that are common with many older adults such as diabetes and kidney disease for such people a goal of 140 is often good enough but what is right for one person may not be right for another that's why there's no need to rush to your doctor to ask for more medications if your blood pressure is above 120 let the doctor decide based on your overall health and other medications the benefits of stringently maintaining your blood pressure at 120 may not be worth the physical mental or emotional costs and sacrifices when you compare that process with the benefits of lowering the side effects of strong medication it just might not be worth it the bottom line is that there are new guidelines and they don't distinguish by age your goal should be to have normal blood pressure which is less than 120 over 80 but that might not be possible without added risk always check with your doctor the other categories are elevated is considered 120 to 129 over less than 80. high blood pressure stage 1 is considered 130 to 139 over 80 to 89. high blood pressure stage 2 is considered 140 or higher over 90 or higher while hypertensive crisis is higher than 180 over and or higher than 120.