Prevention

Why?

• Treating hypertension with low-dose diuretics or beta-blockers reduces stroke, cardiovascular disease and heart failure. ^a
• The benefits are greater for elderly patients ^a particularly with diuretics. ^a

Hypertension: beta-blockers and low-dose diuretics reduce stroke and heart failure

Patient	Treatment	Comparison	Outcome	CER	OR (95% CI)	NNT (95% CI)
hypertension a	low-dose diuretics	placebo	stroke at 5 years	6.8%	0.66 (0.55 to 0.78)	42 (32 to 65)
	low-dose diuretics	placebo	coronary heart disease at 5 years	7.1%	0.71 (0.59 to 0.86)	120 (81 to 240)
	beta-blockers	placebo	heart failure at 5 years	2.6%	0.72 (0.61 to 0.85)	51 (37 to 95)
	beta-blockers	placebo	stroke at 5 years	2.8%	0.58 (0.44 to 0.76)	91 (68 to 160)
	beta-blockers	placebo	heart failure at 5 years	1.4%	0.58 (0.40 to 0.84)	170 (120 to 430)