WHAT BLOOD-PRESSURE LEVELS SHOULD BE TREATED

Information concerning the level of blood pressure at which treatment should be commenced is incomplete, and current guidelines have to be considered of provisional suggestions on which many experts have a consensus. There is general agreement on the need to administer antihypertensive therapy when diastolic pressure is 100 mmHg or above. At diastolic values of 90-99 mmHg the risk, albeit increased, is relatively low. The wisest practical solution, which coincides with guidelines from the World Health Organization and the International Society of Hypertension, is to commence treatment if diastolic pressure is between 95 and 100 mmHg, but only after several months of observation with repeated measurements. At values between 90 and 95 mmHg, a decision in favor of treatment will be influenced by concomitant elevation of systolic values and by the occurrence of other risk factors or a strong family history of cardiovascular disease.