my conclusion from a thorough reading of the charts was that if you were FEMALE, and had no other risk factors, your BP had to be absolutely sky high before it put you at risk of heart disease, strokes etc. Yet still doctors tut-tut at any single reading over 140/90. QDM, any comments???
Dead right, Whirly. As a profession we are obsessed with numbers and, sadly, collaborate actively with the government's desire to control the health of the population. Result: 'tick box medicine' where the boxes are ticked, but the patient is forgotten. (The new GP contract will make this a lot worse.)
I'm not saying high blood pressure shouldn't be treated, but it is certainly true that we over-medicalise and over-treat. There's a balance between being obsessive (have to get the numbers right, sod the patient) and being nihilistic (aw, it doesn't matter what the hell you do, everyone dies eventually anyway). I don't think we've struck that balance.
I'm as guilty as the rest of them.
QDM