A recent study from the University of Edinburgh and elsewhere found drugs that lower blood pressure is equally effective if taken in the morning or evening.
This overturns previous research that suggested blood pressure-lowering medication may be more effective if taken in the evening.
Half of all Americans have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, and many don’t even know they have it.
High blood pressure develops when blood flows through your arteries at higher-than-normal pressures.
Medication can help to prevent possible long-term health consequences of high blood pressure, such as heart disease.
Because the various medications are equally effective at lowering blood pressure, it’s often possible to find one that is well tolerated.
Blood pressure-lowering medications are among the most widely prescribed in the U.K.
Between seven and nine million people take them to reduce their risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases.
In the study, the team examined more than 21,000 patients with high blood pressure.
They found that protection against heart attack, stroke or circulatory diseases is not affected by whether blood pressure drugs are taken in the morning or evening.
Participants in the trial were taking at least one medication to lower their blood pressure. Half were asked to take their medication in the evening and the other half were asked to take it in the morning.
After following those on trial for five years, the team found that there was no difference in the number of people who had a heart attack, stroke or circulatory disease—362 in the morning group versus 390 in the evening.
The main message from the study is that there is no optimal time to take blood pressure tablets to achieve a better outcome, so patients should take their tablets at the time that suits them best.
The study was conducted by Professor David Webb et al and published in The Lancet.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about how fasting may help reverse high blood pressure, and this olive oil could reduce blood pressure in healthy people.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies about common drugs that may increase your blood pressure, and results showing Beetroot juice could help lower high blood pressure.
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