Aggressive Blood-Pressure Reduction May Reduce Cardiovascular Problems, Deaths.

During its Friday broadcast, NBC Nightly News (9/11, story 7, 2:05, Snow) reported, “The National Institutes of Health said today that more aggressively lowering target blood pressure would cut the death rate by a staggering 25 percent.”

In a 1,200-word story on its front page, the New York Times(9/12, A1, Kolata, Subscription Publication) reported that in the study, researchers “randomly assigned more than 9,300 men and women ages 50 and over who were at high risk of heart disease or had kidney disease to one of two systolic blood pressure targets: less than 120 millimeters of mercury, which is lower than any guideline ever suggested, or less than 140.” The researchers “found that patients who were assigned to reach a systolic blood pressure goal below 120 — far lower than current guidelines of 140, and 150 for people over 60 — had their risk of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes reduced by a third and their risk of death reduced by nearly a quarter.”

The AP (9/12, Neergaard) reported that “the benefit was strong enough that NIH stopped the study about a year early.”

The Wall Street Journal (9/12, A1, Armao, Whalen, Subscription Publication) reported on its front page that during a conference call during which the findings were announced, Dr. Gary H. Gibbons, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said, “More intensive management of high blood pressure in people 50 years and older can save lives and reduce cardiovascular complications, such as heart attacks.” Gibbons added, “This new important information has the potential to benefit a portion of the estimated one in three adults in the United States who suffer from high blood pressure, as well as millions of others worldwide.”

On its front page, the Washington Post (9/12, A1, Bernstein) points out that “the NHBLI was the primary sponsor of the” research. In a statement, Dr. Gibbons said, “This study provides potentially lifesaving information that will be useful to health care providers as they consider the best treatment options for some of their patients, particularly those over the age of 50.”

USA Today (9/12, Szabo) reported, however, that “NIH researchers did not provide any details about how many lives were saved or the side effects of lowering blood pressure so dramatically.”

Also covering the story were Reuters (9/12, Berkrot), Forbes (9/12, Hedgecock), the NPR (9/12, Stein) “Shots” blog, Newsweek (9/12, Firger), CNN (9/12, Capelouto, Goldschmidt), the Huffington Post (9/12), TIME (9/12, Luckerson), Medscape (9/12, O'Riordan), and HealthDay(9/12, Thompson, Reinberg).