Elderly patients 'over-treated' for high blood pressure (UK)

"Elderly patients are being treated too aggressively for high blood pressure, researchers claim. They say the "oldest olds", meaning patients aged 80 plus, are being given too many drugs and in too large doses, which may do them more harm than good. The Cochrane scientists who looked at the available data say doctors can set their targets lower for octogenarians. This makes good economic and clinical sense given the expanding elderly population, they told bmj.com. But doctors said high blood pressure is largely under-recognised and under-treated in the UK. Experts say the "oldest olds" are the fastest growing sector of the world's population. According to latest estimates, the UK population of 85-year-olds will go up by a third by 2020. And more than half of these will need treatment for high blood pressure, the British Medical Journal reports"