Upping Seniors' Blood Pressure Meds After Hospital Can Sometimes Bring Danger

Research in JAMA Internal Medicine found raising the dosage of blood pressure medication for seniors hospitalized for non-cardiac conditions can be hazardous, according to U.S. News & World Report . "During hospitalization . . . blood pressure can be temporarily elevated in response to illness and stress," said the University of California, San Francisco's Timothy Anderson. He continued that "our findings suggest that making medication changes during this period is not beneficial." Anderson added that a much safer likely course of action is to "defer medication adjustments . . . until after subjects are recovered from their acute illness." The study focused on more than 4,000 individuals 65 and older with high blood pressure, who were hospitalized for non-cardiac conditions that usually do not require an increase in blood pressure drugs. Fifty percent of subjects had their blood pressure meds increased when they left the hospital. A year after they were released, those who received higher blood pressure medications did not exhibit improved blood pressure control or a reduced risk of heart problems, compared to those who did not have their meds upped. Yet within 30 days after release, those who received increased blood pressure meds were more likely to have been rehospitalized for serious drug-related complications like falling, fainting, and kidney injury.