Your health: New blood pressure treatment guidelines raise concerns

New blood pressure treatment guidelines

A new guideline published last week recommends less-aggressive blood pressure treatment for many people.

The guideline from the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that people 60 and over who have no history of cardiovascular disease shouldn't be treated for hypertension unless their blood pressure is persistently at or above 150/90.

The American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all consider treating blood pressure at 140/90 to be a major way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, especially stroke. So, the new guidelines raised concern among these groups.

AHA President Dr. Steven Houser warned that relaxing blood pressure targets without sufficient evidence could create a false sense of security for some people who need to understand that high blood pressure is dangerous but can be controlled.

"We just can't afford to back off on our efforts to control this major risk factor," Houser said.

State offers license plate for Alzheimer's

Illinois is the first state in the nation to have a specialty license plate supporting the Alzheimer's Association.

The Illinois Secretary of State has received the required 1,500 reservations, which means they will now begin the production process for the Alzheimer's Association specialty license plate.

"With Alzheimer's disease on the rise in Illinois, these license plates will provide much needed awareness of Alzheimer's and the resources available for them," said Jen Belkov, Illinois State Policy Lead for the Alzheimer's Association.

The new Alzheimer's Association license plate will also help the Association strengthen its care and support efforts - 92 percent of the funds generated by the license plate renewal fees are given to the Alzheimer's Association to help fund services like a 24/7 Helpline.

In the coming months, the Alzheimer's Association will be working with the Secretary of State to finalize the license plate's design. Once the design is approved, registrants will receive a license plate transfer application directly from the Secretary of State.

If you want to request a specialty Alzheimer's license plate, visit alzheimers-illinois.org/advocacy/plates/.