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Red Flag Raised Over 'Normal' Blood Pressure

Wednesday, May 14, 2003
(11:12 AM ET) (15:12 GMT)
The Associated Press

Until now, optimal blood pressure was considered 120 over 80 or lower; normal was up to 130 over 85; and levels above that were called borderline until patients reached the hypertension range. But the new guidelines classify normal blood pressure as below 120 over 80 -- and readings anywhere from 120 over 80 up to 140 over 90 as prehypertensive.

WASHINGTON -- AP
Millions of people who thought they had healthy blood pressure are about to get a surprise: The government says levels once considered normal or borderline actually signal "prehypertension," and those people must take care to stave off full-blown high blood pressure.

It's a major change, in new federal guidelines being released Wednesday, that affects people with blood pressure as low as 120 over 80 -- once thought to be a good level but now considered not good enough.

"We don't want to frighten the public, we want to get action. Even small changes in blood pressure are important," said Dr. Aram Chobanian, dean of the Boston University school of medicine and chairman of committee that wrote the guidelines.

About 45 million Americans are in this prehypertensive range, says the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which issued the new recommendations. The change comes from recent scientific studies showing the risk of heart disease begins at blood pressures lower than previously thought.

* A New Normal
(More: CNN.com)
2003 © The Associated Press.

Dan