There were 10% MORE deaths in people with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who were taking blood pressure drugs during a median follow-up of 5.8 years (4.49% died vs 4.08%) than people of the same age and same blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

This study suggests to me that blood pressure drugs INCREASE the risk of death in people with mild hypertension.

Data from a 2004 study of older women showed the same thing, that older women with hypertension, and my guess is that most of them had mild hypertension, were MORE likely to die from cardiovascular disease alone in 7 of 8 drug groups (data was only given for death from cardiovascular disease, but not given for total mortality) than women with hypertension who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs.

I believe that this is because mild hypertension is NOT a disease and does NOT increase your risk of death, so giving drugs to lower blood pressure cannot possibly lower your risk of death, and instead can only INCREASE your risk of death.

In 2000, Sidney Port, PhD, a statistician from UCLA, found that our beliefs about blood pressure, the idea that there is a linear relationship between blood pressure and the risk of death, that every little increase in blood pressure increases the risk of death, is WRONG.

Sid Port found that with blood pressure, there is a threshold effect, and only above a certain threshold, which depends on your age and your gender, does the risk of death increase.

Sid Port found that below this threshold, there is NO increased risk of death (except when blood pressure is too low).

Sid Port found that the threshold is very roughly similar to the old rule-of-thumb, that systolic pressure should not exceed 100 plus your age.

So if you are 50 it should not exceed 150.

If you are 60, it should not exceed 160.

If you are 70, it should not exceed 170.

(Sid Port’s calculations are somewhat different than this, but it is close enough, and this is the easiest way to remember it.)

People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 9% MORE likely to develop cardiovascular disease during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 34% MORE likely to develop congestive heart failure during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 37% MORE likely to develop acute kidney injury during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 72% MORE likely to develop electrolyte abnormalities during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

Women taking a diuretic plus a beta blocker were 21% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 15 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (134 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure drugs were 18% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic plus a beta blocker.

Women taking a diuretic plus an ACE inhibitor were 12% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 16 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (133 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure drugs were 11% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic plus an ACE inhibitor.

Women taking a diuretic plus a calcium channel blocker were 2.4 times MORE likely (136% more likely) to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 11 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (138 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure medicines were 58% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic plus a calcium channel blocker.

Women, 50- to 79-years-old with high blood pressure and no history of cardiovascular disease, who were taking a diuretic to lower their blood pressure were 9% MORE likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women of the same age who also had hypertension but were taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 13 points LOWER in the drug group than the NO drug group (136 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

Let me say this the other way.

Older women with hypertension who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs were 8% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women of the same age who were taking a diuretic even though the average systolic pressure of the women taking NO blood pressure medicines was 13 points HIGHER than those taking a diuretic (149 mm Hg vs 136 mm Hg).