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Hold your 'Doc' to task
*This article was pulled from theheart.org, author Lisa Nainggolan. Our comments follow.
 Milan, Italy - A prospective evaluation of the pharmacological management of hypertension in Greece shows that doctors there use an aggressive but efficient strategy when it comes to treating patients with high blood pressure. Almost half of all newly hypertensive individuals started treatment with combination antihypertensives, and almost three-quarters were on combination pharmacotherapy by the end of the four-month follow-up, Dr George Stergiou (Sotiria Hospital, Athens, Greece) told a late-breaking clinical-trial session at the European Meeting on Hypertension 2011 (in late June)
"It seems the doctors started with combination therapy in those with higher blood pressure and those with a higher total cardiovascular risk, which is quite in line with current hypertension guidelines," said Stergiou. He added that "there was a tendency for better BP control during follow-up for those who started on combination therapy, but this did not reach statistical significance."
But the doctors fell down when it came to maintaining this efficiency, he noted. "Physician inertia in reaching optimal BP control is not uncommon, and we found that the doctors were aggressive at the start but reluctant to intensify treatment after the second or third visit," said Stergiou, adding: "Measures to improve this situation are required."
*My thoughts, I can see how this easily can happen: a) A rare doctor may feel they have bigger fish to fry and thinks they got 'close enough' - we're not playing horseshoes b) The average person with high blood pressure needs to be on 2.8 BP meds, we occasionally, and understandably, face resistance when we go to add the 2nd or 3rd medicine. No one wants to increase their medication list. In part, this is b/c most everyone is asymptomatic at blood pressures that are 10-20-50 points higher than we want; "If I don't feel it, why should I take 2 or 3 pills for it. You already have me on something" c) Not all of us have the same BP goals, please ask your family doc, or your park doc what your goal #s are. All that said, maintaining a normal blood pressure is critical. Together, patients and docs, we can do this. How? If we have hypertension, we need to keep some home BP recordings. If you have hypertension, please consider purchasing a home cuff. Many studies support this. Don't worry about running too low ("I was 106/72 the other day, is that okay?!). As long as you are asymptomatic (can walk, talk, and pee) - you're probably good. Please keep pursuing a healthy diet and exercising 150 minutes or more/week; high blood pressure is strongly tied to wait (this misspelling intentional, others not). In addition, you don't need to get down to your ideal wait to start peeling off meds (although we won't argue with you if you do); 5-10 lbs may make a big difference. If you are carrying a little extra wait, consider looking at a necessary new BP medicine as a source of motivation to take off a few pounds. No one should have high BP. The ball is in our court, we've got this. | 
