September 25, 2015 – More Blood Pressure Meds?

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Anchor lead:  How will results of a new study on blood pressure management change practice?  Elizabeth Tracey reports

SPRINT is the acronym used for a major study on blood pressure management that was just stopped early, since clear benefits of tight blood pressure control were seen with study participants and it was deemed unethical to continue not treating everyone with the same aggressive strategy. Patricia Davidson, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and a cardiovascular disease expert, says not so fast.  These results need to be interpreted person by person.

Davidson: I think that story is another interesting piece of the puzzle about managing individuals.  One of the important things to remember about evidence based practice:  the best available evidence within the context of assessment of the individual patient’s needs and wishes, and also with clinical expertise.  Many of these studies provide us with some goalposts and milestones, but in the end it comes down to judicious clinical assessment of the individual patient and circumstances.   :32

So don’t worry that you might need another medicine until you know what these results mean for you.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.