Saturday, March 07, 2020
Maybe it's like dog years
Before 1980, medical guidelines assumed that blood pressure was meant to rise somewhat with age. There was a formula for linear rise with age.
After 1980 the formula disappeared and an absolute unchanging standard was set in stone. 120/80 from birth to death.
A new statistical survey indicates that the old setup was closer to correct, though perhaps not the right linear formula:
The team found that people aged 75 or over with low blood pressure (below 130 / 80) had increased mortality rates in the follow-up, compared to those with normal blood pressure. This was especially pronounced in 'frail' individuals, who had 62 per cent increased risk of death during the ten year follow-up. Although high blood pressure increased risk of cardiovascular incidents, such as heart attacks, it was not linked to higher mortality in frail adults over 75. Older people aged 85 and over who had raised blood pressure actually had reduced mortality rates, compared to those with lower blood pressure, regardless of whether they were frail or not.I've been wondering about this. At age 60 I had extremely high BP, undoubtedly dangerous by any formula. The prescribed pills have done an excellent job of holding it down to 120/80. Now at age 70 I have the impression that I feel better and less anxious when the vagus nerve is tensed up; when I relax to let the heart slow down all the way, I don't feel as good. Maybe the pressure should be around 140, as the old formula suggested. (This impression is most likely wrong, as most of my internal 'correlations' turn out to be wrong.)
Labels: Asked and badly answered
¶ 5:30 AM
