This site is intended for UK Healthcare professionals only

Are you a UK Healthcare professional?

We are unfortunately unable to allow patients to attend CPC London

Legal Notice

CLINICAL PHARMACY CONGRESS IS SPONSORED BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND MED TECH INDUSTRIES VIA GRANTS, SPONSORSHIP, AND EXHIBITION PACKAGES. PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES HAVE SOLELY PROVIDED SPONSORSHIP THROUGH THE PURCHASE OF EXHIBITION SPACE AND/OR SPONSORED SPEAKER SESSIONS WITH NO FURTHER INPUT INTO THE ARRANGEMENTS OR AGENDA OF THE MEETING. SESSIONS DELIVERED WITH INPUT FROM OUR SPONSORS WILL ALWAYS BE MARKED ON THE PROGRAMME. A FULL LIST OF CONFIRMED SPONSORS FOR CLINICAL PHARMACY CONGRESS IS AVAILABLE HERE.

Manchester Event

Latest News

Subpage Hero

.

09 Sep 2021

Should age impact on how we manage hypertension?

Should age impact on how we manage hypertension?

A familiar dilemma in the day of a clinical pharmacist'

NICE recommends ACE inhibitors are used first-line to management of hypertension in those <55y, and calcium channel blockers (CCBs) in those ?55y (once diabetes and ethnicity are taken into account).

However, a UK cohort study showed that:

  • In those who were not black, not diabetic and <55y there was no significant difference in BP control between ACE inhibitors or CCBs at 12 months.
  • CCBs did seem to have greater BP-lowering effects in those over 75y.

What about BP targets in our frail patients?

A UK observational study showed that:

  • In those over 85y, raised blood pressure was not associated with increased mortality (even if SBP >180!).
  • In those aged 75'85y:
    • If moderately'severely frail, there was NO association between raised BP and mortality.
    • If mildly frail, raised blood pressure WAS associated with increased mortality.
    • Having too low a blood pressure was also harmful: in those ?75y, BP <130/80 was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality.

What does this mean in practice?

Guidelines are written for populations, and if there is a good reason to deviate from them then we are free to do that (remember to document your reasoning!).

  • We can think more about comorbidities when choosing which drug to use; hypertension + proteinuria = consider ACE inhibitor, hypertension + CVA = consider CCB.
  • Don't be afraid to adjust blood pressure targets people as become more frail.

Found this snippet useful? Red Whale runs one-day Clinical Pharmacist Update Courses, packed with updates like this, and has provided general update, cancer and MSK/chronic pain education (both face to face and online) to over 4000 pharmacists over the past five years through our longstanding relationship with CPPE.

'

Loading

Newsletter Sign Up