Centre for Policy on Ageing



Hypertension in the elderly
Author(s)	Andrew K Scott
Journal title	Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, vol 9, no 1, February 1999
Pages	pp 39-54
Keywords	Hypertension ; Therapeutics ; Drugs ; Research Reviews.
Annotation	Hypertension is a common problem in older people, but its actual prevalence is uncertain, depending as it does on the diagnostic methods used. Hypertension is an important factor in two of the most common causes of death in older patients in the UK: heart disease and stroke. Next to age, hypertension is the most important risk factor for ischaemic heart disease and cardiac failure. There are well-defined methods of diagnosis and guidelines such as those published by the British Hypertension Society (BHS). A new version is in preparation. Trials have confirmed the benefits of treatment in older patients, particularly in terms of stroke reduction. Since the previous review of the subject in 1994, the most important developments have been the publication of more outcome studies, some of which have used calcium antagonists as first-line treatment. This review focuses on the over 65 age group. Since there is still insufficient data on older subjects, information from research on younger patients has been included to support arguments for various aspects of management. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-990824226 A
Classmark	CQQ: LL: LLD: 3A:6KC
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.