The more individualised the blood pressure, the better

Hypertension with high global prevalence is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and death. It is known from observational studies in patients without other risk factors that there is a continuous and linear increase in cardiovascular risk associated with pressure elevations from 115 and 75 mmHg for systolic and diastolic blood pressures (BPs), respectively (1). However, the ideal target for pressure control remains undetermined. In addition, there is no evidence from large population studies about the real benefit of strict BP control (2-4). Thus, the therapeutic target for systolic and diastolic pressure in under 60-year-old individuals remains hypothetical. However, based on the opinion of experts, hypertension guidelines recommend target values of less than 140/90 mmHg (5-10). With respect to the elderly, most guidelines maintain the target of 140/90 mmHg, with the exception of the Egyptian and American guidelines that recommend 150/90 mmHg (11,12) and the Canadian high BP education program which advocates a systolic blood pressure (SBP) <150 mmHg for individuals >80 years (13).