Hypertension

Summary

The NICE clinical guideline on hypertension covers:

• how doctors should find out whether someone has high blood pressure
• how doctors should assess someone's risk of developing problems with their heart or blood vessels, such as a heart attack or stroke (also called 'cardiovascular disease')
• how lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet and exercise can affect blood pressure
• the use of medicines to lower blood pressure
• how high blood pressure should be monitored

These recommendations apply to primary care, that is, treatment by a GP or practice nurse. They do not apply to hospital care. This guideline does not look at screening for hypertension (routine checking of blood pressure in healthy people to detect early disease), hypertension during pregnancy or the specialist management of secondary hypertension (where the high blood pressure is happening because of another medical problem).

This guideline is an update of advice on high blood pressure that NICE produced in 2004. The advice on medicines for high blood pressure has changed, but all the other advice is the same.

Documents

For healthcare professionals

• CG34 Hypertension - NICE guideline (all the recommendations)
• CG34 Hypertension - NICE guideline (all the recommendations) (Word format)
• CG34 Hypertension - full guideline (the new recommendations and the evidence they are based on)
• CG34 Hypertension - quick reference guide

For patients, carers and the public

• CG34 Hypertension - information for the public
• CG34 Hypertension - information for the public (Word version)

Background information

• NICE and the British Hypertension Society launch updated guideline to tackle hypertension in England and Wales
• CG18 Hypertension - full guideline (unchanged recommendations and the evidence they are based on)

Implementing this guidance

Any further information NICE has produced to help the NHS implement this guideline locally is linked to below:

• Hypertension - costing report
• Hypertension - costing template