The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recently released new clinical practice guidelines for the prevention, detection and treatment of high blood pressure. The guidelines feature altered blood pressure categories, including a new “prehypertension” level, which covers about twenty-two percent of American adults. These new guidelines also streamline the steps by which physicians diagnose and treat patients, and recommend the use of diuretics as part of the drug treatment plan for high blood pressure.
To review the guidelines you may go the JAMA Web site at www.jama.com . Detailed information is also available through the NHLBI Web site at www.nhlbi.nih.gov .
A quick reference physician’s guide is available to download at, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/phycard.pdf or you may order a copy from the
NHLBI at 301-592-8573 or 240-629-3255.