Use and Abuse of Antihypertensive Drugs in the Aged

In this article, Freis addressed a persistent problem in hypertension diagnosis and treatment: a careless, "one-size-fits-all" approach to treating older patients. Though hypertension was a significant component of many geriatric diseases, he said, it did not always follow that all cases of high blood pressure needed drug treatment. He cautioned physicians to be sensitive to the needs and circumstances of each patient, and to remember that older people have more labile blood pressure, and are more sensitive to medications.

Presented as part of a Symposium on the Use and Abuse of Therapeutic Drugs in the Aged held by the Section on Geriatric Medicine of the New York Academy of Medicine with the American Geriatric Society May 14, 1980.