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[Secondary prevention of stroke through arterial blood pressure reduction]
Insights
High blood pressure significantly increases stroke risk. The PROGRESS study investigates if lowering blood pressure with an ACE-inhibitor can prevent recurrent strokes in patients with a history of cerebrovascular events.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Cardiology
- Clinical Trials
Context:
- Observational studies link elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure to cerebrovascular disease incidence.
- High blood pressure is a known risk factor for both primary and secondary stroke.
- Antihypertensive treatment reduces stroke incidence in patients without prior stroke history.
Purpose:
- To evaluate the efficacy of blood pressure lowering with an ACE-inhibitor in the secondary prevention of recurrent stroke.
- To assess the impact of antihypertensive treatment on patients with a history of cerebral ischemic attacks or stroke.
Summary:
- The PROGRESS study is evaluating the blood pressure-lowering effects of an ACE-inhibitor.
- The study focuses on recurrent stroke prevention in a large population of 6000 patients with prior cerebrovascular events.
- This research addresses the uncertainty regarding antihypertensive treatment for secondary stroke prevention.
Impact:
- Provides crucial data on secondary stroke prevention strategies.
- Informs clinical guidelines for managing hypertension in stroke survivors.
- Contributes to reducing the global burden of cerebrovascular diseases.
Abstract:
Large scale observational studies have conclusively demonstrated that systolic and diastolic blood pressure values are linearly related to the incidence of cerebrovascular diseases and that high blood pressure is an important risk factor for both primary and secondary development of stroke. Interventional studies have shown that blood pressure lowering by antihypertensive treatment reduces the incidence of stroke in hypertensive patients without a history of previous stroke. Whether this is the case also for the secondary prevention of cerebral ischemic attacks has not been unequivocally shown, however. The PROGRESS ("Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study") study has been designed and is under way to collect information on this important issue of the antihypertensive treatment, its purpose being to evaluate the blood pressure lowering effects with an ACE-inhibitor on recurrent stroke in an overall population of 6000 patients with a positive history of previous cerebral ischemic attacks or stroke.