only one that matters,” Flint said. “But diastolic definitely matters.”
He and his colleagues reported the findings in the July 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The definition of high blood pressure has gotten a revamp in recent years. Guidelines issued in 2017 by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and other heart groups lowered the threshold for diagnosing the condition — from the traditional 140/90 mm Hg to 130/80.
The fact that treatment guidelines include a diastolic pressure threshold implies that it’s important. And indeed it is, said Dr. Karol Watson, a member of the ACC’s prevention section and leadership council.
In fact, she said, doctors once thought that diastolic blood pressure was the more important one — based on research at the time. Then came the
