On Jun 8, 1:43*pm, Dogman wrote:
Just how effective are blood pressure medications?

http://www.drbriffa.com/2012/06/08/j...re-blood-press...

"Even if we extend these NNTs over time, they still are not
impressive. Taking the best numbers here (stroke prevention in men),
an NNT of 160 over one year equates to an NNT of 32 over 5 years. So,
of 32 men treated, one will avoid a stroke, but the other 31 will not.
Which means 97 per cent of men taking two medications over 5 years
will not benefit in terms of stroke prevention.

"Now, of course, these slim benefits need to be weighed against the
potential adverse effects of antihypertensives (of which there are
many, unfortunately)."


That this doctor would call avoiding one stroke in 32 men in 5 years
a slim benefit pretty much tells you he's an idiot. One in 32 dead
or crippled for life doesn't seem slim to me.

As for the side effects of medication, there is a wide array of
blood pressure medication available today. Millions of people are
on them without suffering from side effects. If they can't tolerate
one, there are plenty of others to choose from. Just listing all
the possible side effects from any medication is nothing but
scare tactics. Look at the list of possible side effects of
even the safest drugs and it's scary.

And the probability of side effects probably corelates to the
benefit. Someone who's blood pressure is 140 is probably
going to find it very easy to find a medication that lowers it
with no side effects. Conversely, the person most likely to
have side effects because of the higher dosages required,
eg, someone at 200+, is also the person who is going to benefit the
most in terms of reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, premature
death, etc.