Government Urges Lower Blood Pressure Guidelines to Save Lives

Thousands of lives could be saved every year if people would try to reach lower blood pressure levels than those currently recommended by medical researchers.

Federal researches have determined that lowering what is currently viewed as healthy systolic blood pressure in adults from 140 to 120 could save an untold number of lives of people over the age of 50 from strokes and heart attacks, according to The Washington Post. Adults with blood pressure and diabetes, who are currently told that a blood pressure of 130 is ok, should also strive toward this lower goal.

The discovery was made in a study that began in 2009 and involved providing 9,300 subjects over the age of 50 with medicine that kept their systolic blood pressure at 120. The scientists learned that by doing so, the rate of heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure fell by roughly 33 percent while the chance of death fell 25 percent.

When you get your blood pressure taken, the systolic blood pressure is the top number while diastolic blood pressure is the bottom one. Systolic blood pressure measures the pressure in a person's arteries when the heart contracts, while diastolic measures the pressure when a person's heart is resting.

The scientists said that doctors will have to pay close attention to their patients to determine the best level for their blood pressure, because blood pressure that is too low can also have negative effects on patients, particularly those over the age of 75.

The findings will have a huge impact on the roughly 70 million Americans who have blood pressure that is deemed to be too high. Heart disease and stroke are the number one and number three causes of death in the United States.