Lowering High Blood Pressure Intensively Could Protect the Heart

In a recent study led by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, researchers find that if people with hypertension strongly lower their blood pressure, they can reduce the risk of left ventricular hypertrophy.

Left ventricular hypertrophy is a condition in which the muscle wall of heart’s left pumping chamber (ventricle) becomes thickened (hypertrophy).

This condition is a complication of high blood pressure. It also causes the left ventricle to work harder. As the workload increases, the heart muscle becomes thicker.

The enlarged heart muscle may eventually lose elasticity and fail to pump with as much force as needed. When this happens, people can have higher risk of a heart attack and stroke.

In the study, the researchers wanted to see if lowering blood pressure below what is generally recommended would lead to more benefits to the heart muscle in terms of thickening (hypertrophy).

To achieve the goal, they tested 8,164 people from the National Institutes of Health’s Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention (SPRINT) trial.

The SPRINT trial is a research study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Participants are seen regularly by experts in blood pressure management for a period of 4 to 8 years.

The main goal is to see if a lower recommended blood pressure might help to decrease stroke, heart disease, progression of chronic kidney disease, and age-related losses of memory and thinking.

In the present study, the team found that lowering systolic blood pressure to less than 120 mmHg could prevent development of left ventricular hypertrophy. 120 mmHg is lower than the recommended level 140 mmHg.

The researchers suggest that lowering blood pressure aggressively could prevent left ventricular hypertrophy and thus reduce risk of high blood pressure.

Reducing heart muscle thickening may also help reduce heart disease events such as stroke and heart attacks. But this requires more research in the future.

​“More research is needed to understand what factors determine which patients get the most benefits and less of the harm.”

Source -Knowridge Science Report