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NIH Makes New Recommendations on Hypertension Treatment

Aired May 14, 2003 - 13:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An estimated 15 million Americans have high blood pressure, and if you think you're not at risk, don't be so sure.
The government is changing federal guidelines, and now says blood pressure levels once considered normal could actually signal trouble down the road.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen covering this story. So, wait a minute, so if you were OK, suddenly you're not so OK? That's not so good. That will raise your blood pressure right there, won't it?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is right. That will. That is one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is what used to be OK is still OK, but you might want to keep an eye on it.

Let's take a look at the numbers that the National Institutes of Health is talking about today. What they're saying is is that if you have blood pressure that is anywhere between 120/80 to 139/89, if you're somewhere in that range, you might have what is called pre- hypertension, and you should talk to your doctor about lifestyle changes. In other words, you should talk to your doctor about eating better, losing weight, cutting the sodium, exercising, because even though you don't actually have hypertension right now, you may develop hypertension in the future. The National Institutes of Health held a press conference earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. EDWARD ROCCELLA, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: The new guidelines ask Americans to change how they think about high blood pressure. The risk of heart disease and stroke starts to rise long before hypertension is established. Americans can't wait for that risk to overtake them. They need to start today to make these lifestyle changes that can protect them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: The NIH has several other findings. Let's take a look at those. One of them is that for people over age 50, the top number in the blood pressure reading is actually the more important one, that's the systolic number.

And another finding is that two or more drugs are better for most patients. In other words, that most patients who actually have hypertension need at least two drugs to control it, and the NIH says that for most people, one of those two drugs ought to be what's call a diuretic. Now, those are older pills, been around forever, very inexpensive. And Miles, sometimes those pills get lost in the mix because drug companies aren't pushing them because they don't make a lot of money off of them.

O'BRIEN: Not a lot of commercials on those.

COHEN: No, you don't see a lot of commercials for those.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk a little bit about -- every study that comes out, there's always a naysayer out there. Is this something we should accept as gospel, or are there some people who say not?

COHEN: No. You never want to take any study as gospel, and there are certainly some well respected people who are naysayers on at least part of this report. What they say is that it's unclear whether you really do need two drugs. They say that you don't. They say that one drug should be fine for most people. The trick is finding the right drug. Anyone who is high blood pressure can tell you, there are many, many blood pressure drugs out there, and you have to try several of them sometimes before you find one that works.

So what this group of critics is saying is, one drug can really be enough in most cases, it just has to be the right drug.

O'BRIEN: What if you want to take a more holistic approach? Is there anything else you can do? Exercise, less -- salt contributing?

COHEN: Salt is a big contributor, and the NIH said that they have asked the food manufacturers in the country to cut their -- to cut the amount of sodium in their products by one-half in the next decade.

Now, that is a very tall order, getting rid of half of the salt in all food products. We'll see if food manufacturers agree to do that.

O'BRIEN: My wife, who dumps salt by the shaker load on French Fries should be listening to that.

COHEN: That is right. We hope she is.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen. Appreciate that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 14, 2003 - 13:24   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An estimated 15 million Americans have high blood pressure, and if you think you're not at risk, don't be so sure.
The government is changing federal guidelines, and now says blood pressure levels once considered normal could actually signal trouble down the road.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen covering this story. So, wait a minute, so if you were OK, suddenly you're not so OK? That's not so good. That will raise your blood pressure right there, won't it?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is right. That will. That is one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is what used to be OK is still OK, but you might want to keep an eye on it.

Let's take a look at the numbers that the National Institutes of Health is talking about today. What they're saying is is that if you have blood pressure that is anywhere between 120/80 to 139/89, if you're somewhere in that range, you might have what is called pre- hypertension, and you should talk to your doctor about lifestyle changes. In other words, you should talk to your doctor about eating better, losing weight, cutting the sodium, exercising, because even though you don't actually have hypertension right now, you may develop hypertension in the future. The National Institutes of Health held a press conference earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. EDWARD ROCCELLA, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: The new guidelines ask Americans to change how they think about high blood pressure. The risk of heart disease and stroke starts to rise long before hypertension is established. Americans can't wait for that risk to overtake them. They need to start today to make these lifestyle changes that can protect them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: The NIH has several other findings. Let's take a look at those. One of them is that for people over age 50, the top number in the blood pressure reading is actually the more important one, that's the systolic number.

And another finding is that two or more drugs are better for most patients. In other words, that most patients who actually have hypertension need at least two drugs to control it, and the NIH says that for most people, one of those two drugs ought to be what's call a diuretic. Now, those are older pills, been around forever, very inexpensive. And Miles, sometimes those pills get lost in the mix because drug companies aren't pushing them because they don't make a lot of money off of them.

O'BRIEN: Not a lot of commercials on those.

COHEN: No, you don't see a lot of commercials for those.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk a little bit about -- every study that comes out, there's always a naysayer out there. Is this something we should accept as gospel, or are there some people who say not?

COHEN: No. You never want to take any study as gospel, and there are certainly some well respected people who are naysayers on at least part of this report. What they say is that it's unclear whether you really do need two drugs. They say that you don't. They say that one drug should be fine for most people. The trick is finding the right drug. Anyone who is high blood pressure can tell you, there are many, many blood pressure drugs out there, and you have to try several of them sometimes before you find one that works.

So what this group of critics is saying is, one drug can really be enough in most cases, it just has to be the right drug.

O'BRIEN: What if you want to take a more holistic approach? Is there anything else you can do? Exercise, less -- salt contributing?

COHEN: Salt is a big contributor, and the NIH said that they have asked the food manufacturers in the country to cut their -- to cut the amount of sodium in their products by one-half in the next decade.

Now, that is a very tall order, getting rid of half of the salt in all food products. We'll see if food manufacturers agree to do that.

O'BRIEN: My wife, who dumps salt by the shaker load on French Fries should be listening to that.

COHEN: That is right. We hope she is.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen. Appreciate that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com