Controlling blood pressure to below 120 systolic prevents more heart attacks, strokes, cases of heart failure and other heart-related health problems, compared with higher targets, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Photo by Adobe Stock
Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Tight control over blood pressure is not only good for patients, but is also cost-effective health care, a new study says.
Controlling blood pressure to below 120 systolic prevents more heart attacks, strokes, cases of heart failure and other heart-related health problems, compared with higher targets, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
It's also cost-effective, with tight blood pressure control increasing treatment expenses only slightly, researchers found.
"This study should give patients at high cardiovascular risk and their clinicians more confidence in pursuing an intensive blood pressure goal," lead researcher Karen Smith, an investigator at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a news release.
