title: Eye on the elderly. Hypertension care: striking the proper balance.
abstract: Treat systolic hypertension in the elderly to reduce their risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. Don't shy away from treating the very old. Hypertension treatment is beneficial even in patients who are 80 years of age or older. Don't prescribe an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and an angiotensin receptor blocker for elderly patients without heart failure; the combination increases the risk of adverse effects without reducing cardiovascular events.
authors.affiliation: St. Luke's Family Medicine Residency Program, Bethlehem, PA, USA. langanr@slhn.org
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Langan
authors.forename: Paula C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Bordelon
authors.forename: Maria V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Ghetu
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D015996:Survival Rate; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents