Antihypertensive treatment in young patients with mildly elevated BP

Should antihypertensive treatment be introduced in young patients with a mildly elevated systolic or diastolic blood pressure?

Ally Prebtani, MD: That is a very good question. It depends on the patients’ overall risk: If you calculate their overall cardiovascular risk to be very low, then as long as their blood pressure is <160/100 mm Hg, you probably do not need to start them on pharmacological therapy provided you rule out secondary causes, but you need to follow them closely. If their risk is not low, then I would say use the same measures as you would with anyone else in terms of instituting medical therapy.

It all depends on their overall cardiovascular long-term risk, but they need to be followed.