Overview
- A JAMA Network Open cohort of more than 25,000 adults with hypertension followed for up to 24 years linked higher healthy-lifestyle scores to a 51% lower cardiovascular risk and a 79% lower type 2 diabetes risk.
- Participants with the healthiest profiles were estimated to gain over eight years of life from age 40 compared with those with the poorest habits, with benefits seen even among people on blood pressure medication.
- An Annals of Internal Medicine analysis finds about 11% of adults ages 65–79 with Stage 1 hypertension no longer meet thresholds for immediate drug therapy under 2025 AHA/ACC guidelines.
- The reclassified group is largely lower-risk women in their mid‑60s without smoking, diabetes, or other major risk factors, for whom lifestyle change and close monitoring are recommended first.
- The updated approach emphasizes individualized decisions guided by PREVENT risk estimates rather than age alone, marking a shift from prior practice that routinely treated all older adults with Stage 1 readings.