on average, one additional antihypertensive drug. In addition, the median systolic blood pressure in the intensive-treatment group was just above 120 mm Hg, which indicates that more than half the participants had a systolic blood pressure above the 120 mm Hg target. These observations suggest that achieving a systolic blood-pressure goal of less than 120 mm Hg in the overall population of patients with hypertension would be more demanding and time-consuming for both providers and patients than achieving a goal of 140 mm Hg, and would necessitate increased medication costs and clinic visits.
In conclusion, targeting a systolic blood pressure of less than 120 mm Hg, as compared with
less than 140 mm Hg, in patients at high risk for cardiovascular events but without diabetes resulted
in lower rates of fatal and nonfatal major cardiovascular events and death from any cause. However, some adverse events occurred significantly more frequently with the lower target.