BMJ 1999;319:630-635 ( 4 September )

Education and debate

British Hypertension Society guidelines for hypertension management 1999: summary

Lawrence E Ramsay, professor of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics a,  Bryan Williams, professor of medicine b,  G Dennis Johnston, professor of clinical pharmacology c,  Graham A MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine d,  Lucilla Poston, professor of fetal medicine e,  John F Potter, professor of medicine for the elderly b,  Neil R Poulter, director, cardiovascular studies unit f,  Gavin Russell, consultant renal physician g. 

a University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, b University of Leicester School of Medicine, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester LE2 7LX, c Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, d Department of Medicine, St George's Hospital, London SW17 0RE, e Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St Thomas's Hospital, London SE1 7EH, f Imperial College School of Medicine, London W2 1NY, g North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, Stoke on Trent ST4 7LN

Correspondence to: B Williams bw17@leicester.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

This article summarises the new British Hypertension Society guidelines for management of hypertension, which have been published in full.1 Since the previous guidelines 2 3 much new evidence has emerged on optimal blood pressure targets4; management of hypertension in diabetic patients4-7; treatment of isolated systolic hypertension8; comparison of the antihypertensive efficacy and tolerability of different drug classes9-11; the role of non-pharmacological measures for prevention 12 13 and treatment of hypertension14; and additional benefits associated with the use of aspirin and statins.

Of concern is that national surveys continue to reveal incomplete detection, treatment, and control of hypertension.15 Furthermore, treated hypertensive patients still die prematurely from cardiovascular disease.16 These guidelines aim to present the best currently available evidence on hypertension management and their implementation.


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    Blood pressure measurement

All adults should have their blood pressure measured routinely at least every five years until the age of 80 years. Those with high-normal values (135-139/85-89 mm Hg) . . . [Full text of this article]
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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

International community dispute BP targets
David Lewis
bmj.com, 4 Sep 1999 [Full text]
Guidelines-- of no benefit if they cannot be implemented
Robert Fleetcroft
bmj.com, 5 Sep 1999 [Full text]
Optimal target pressure not supported by strength A evidence
Hogne Sandvik
bmj.com, 4 Sep 1999 [Full text]
BRITISH HYPERTENSION SOCIETY GUIDELINES
Tahseen A Chowdhury
bmj.com, 7 Sep 1999 [Full text]
Role of the laboratory in disseminating and implementing guidelines
R Gama
bmj.com, 9 Sep 1999 [Full text]
Treating hypertension with lifestyle measures: Aim for modest weight loss, not ‘ideal body weight’
John Wilding, et al.
bmj.com, 8 Sep 1999 [Full text]
How many drugs is enough?
David Payne
bmj.com, 11 Sep 1999 [Full text]
BRITISH HYPERTENSION SOCIETY GUIDELINES
Gary Drybala
bmj.com, 16 Sep 1999 [Full text]
British Hypertension Society Guidelines
Garfield Drummond
bmj.com, 6 Oct 1999 [Full text]
Ownership and uptake of guidelines
Phil Taylor
bmj.com, 7 Oct 1999 [Full text]
British Guidelines on Hypertension Do not consider Workload Implications In Primary Care
John Eisenberg
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Target organ assessment in nurse run clinics
Pam Sim
bmj.com, 2 Nov 1999 [Full text]
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bmj.com, 16 Nov 1999 [Full text]
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