Health & Wellness

Cardiovascular Health: It Doesn’t Matter When You Take BP Pills

By Wendy Haaf

 

When it comes to the risk for cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes, taking your blood pressure drugs in the morning is just as effective as doing so before bed.

That’s the main finding of a British study in which more than 21,000 patients (average age 65) with treated hypertension were randomly assigned to take their antihypertensive medication either in the morning or the evening. Over a median follow-up period of over five years, the rate of cardiovascular events in both groups was virtually the same.

While a controversial 2020 trial supposedly showed a large benefit from taking antihypertensives at bedtime, the authors of a systematic review later concluded that this research had “major flaws.”

Source: European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2022