Doctors are treating more patients with hypertension after changes to blood pressure guidelines.
In 2017, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association lowered the maximum blood pressure considered to be high.
Prior to the change, 140 over 90 was considered the upper range of normal; now 130 over 80 is the maximum.
“By definition if you have lowered the upper limit acceptable for high blood pressure, to a lower number then you will by definition have a higher number of people with high blood pressure,” Doctor John Hicks said.
He tells News13, lifestyle changes help many patients but something most people don’t consider is their caffeine intake. He says cutting your caffeine intake in half, can drastically reduce your blood pressure if you have hypertension and most doctors use prescriptions as a last resort.
“There is an enormous amount of debate in the literature within and among cardiologists, primary care and endocrinologists as to what are we doing with these blood pressures,” Hicks said. “Are we over treating people? Because we have to remember, for every intervention, there is going to be side effects.”
