Management of hypertension in the elderly: Looking for a trade-off between cardiovascular prevention and serious adverse events

Abstract

Despite the effectiveness of anti-hypertensive therapy is well recognized, the most adequate target to achieve in the management of hypertension in the elderly is still under debate. Indeed, looking at the balance between benefits and risks, accumulating evidence has recently specifically addressed this issue, focusing on controversies. Evidence surrounding a more aggressive treatment may lead to a turnaround in the clinical care of older adult hypertensives, but a balanced trade-off between benefits and risks needs to be programmed and achieved, particularly in this clinical setting. We argue whether and how the results from recent trials could influence the management of hypertension in older people.

Keywords

• Arterial hypertension
• antihypertensive therapy
• elderly
• blood pressure target.