[Univ. of Sydney] New blood pressure guidelines could put lives at risk
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180416124319.htm
"First, wider disease definitions mean more people are
labelled as unwell, even if they have low risk of a disease,"
said the report's lead author, Dr Katy Bell of the University
of Sydney. "Labeling a person as having hypertension
increases their risk of anxiety and depression, as compared to
the risk for people with the same blood pressure who aren't
labelled as hypertensive. "Second, it means more people may
experience serious adverse effects from treatments. "Third,
in countries without universal health coverage, such as the
United States, people newly diagnosed with hypertension may
face difficulties gaining insurance coverage for a
'pre-existing' condition." Report co-author, Bond University
Professor Paul Glasziou said: "The ACC/AHA guideline follow an
established pattern in the medical specialties, where disease
definitions are more often widened than narrowed. "Systolic
blood pressure has poor reproducibility, with a 10mmHg
standard deviation for repeat measurements between clinics,"
he added.
- - -
Now, let's see. Who would benefit from classifying 10's of millions of
people as needing drugs to treat hypertension who don't really need
them? Hmm.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): https://www.vortex.com/lauren
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