Hypertension Drugs Prolong Life in Octogenarians, Study Shows

By Nicole Ostrow

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- People aged 80 and older who take medicine to reduce their high blood pressure live longer and have fewer strokes, a British study found.

Blood pressure drugs cut the risk of dying by a fifth for people in the study, compared with those given a placebo, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago. Hypertension medicine also lowered the rate of strokes by about a third, though that finding wasn't statistically significant.

The study, the largest to examine high blood pressure treatment in very old people, contradicts those who believe hypertension therapy has little benefit for the elderly, researchers said. The findings suggest doctors should consider prescribing medicines to lower blood pressure in older people who have hypertension, the authors said.

``Before our study, doctors were unsure about whether very elderly people with high blood pressure could see the same benefits from treatment to lower their blood pressure as those we see in younger people,'' said Christopher Bulpitt, a study author and professor of geriatric medicine at London's Imperial College, in a statement released by the conference. ``Our results clearly show that many patients aged 80 and over could benefit greatly from treatment.''

Researchers looked at 3,845 patients from Europe, China, Tunisia and Australia and neighboring regions with high blood pressure who were given either a placebo or Sanofi-Aventis SA's Lozol, a diuretic, in combination in some cases with Solvay SA's Aceon, an ACE inhibitor. The findings also are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Reducing Deaths

Those given the combination treatment had 39 percent fewer fatal strokes, 64 percent less fatal and non-fatal heart failure and a 34 percent fewer cardiovascular events, including heart attack, the researchers found. The benefits were seen within the first year of follow up.

The study was stopped early because of the positive findings.

The research ``puts the questions of the usefulness of treating hypertension in the very old to rest and provides important guidance to physicians and writers of such guidelines,'' said John Kostis, a doctor and professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in an editorial in the New England journal.

The results ``prove that it is not too late to start antihypertensive therapy in older people and expands the upper limit of the age spectrum for which there is evidence from clinical trials of treatment benefit,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Ostrow in New York at nostrow1@bloomberg.net.