Blood Pressure Control: Now or Later?

[Northerner]

Confronted with a high blood pressure value in a diabetic patient, most doctors would treat aggressively with medications. According to new research, however, delaying drug treatment for up to a year is unlikely to be harmful. The delay allows doctors and their patients to focus on lifestyle changes such as salt restriction, weight management, and exercise. According to Neda Laiteerapong and colleagues from the University of Chicago in the US, the level of harm depends on the duration of the delays in blood pressure control, with significant complications occurring after ten years of non-treatment.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120109132600.htm

 

[FM001]

Makes sense. A friend of mine who chain-smoked and was overweight changed his life around by losing 5 stone and ditching the cigs and taking up jogging, he'd been on bp meds for years but eventually became med free just with a few simple changes.