By Gina Kolata, New York Times, Dec. 18/19, 2013

New guidelines suggest that people over 60 can have a higher blood pressure than previously recommended before starting treatment to lower it. The advice, criticized by some physicians, changes treatment goals that have been in place for more than 30 years [....]

Essentially, the committee determined that there was not strong evidence for the blood pressure targets that had been guiding treatment, and that there were risks associated with the medications used to bring pressures down.

The committee, composed of 17 academics, was tasked with updating guidelines last re-examined a decade ago. Their report was published online on Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Hypertension experts said they did not have a precise figure on how many Americans would be affected by the new guidelines. But Dr. William B. White, the president of the American Society of Hypertension, said it was “a huge number for sure.” [....]

“When I discuss this with my colleagues and friends in the community, most are pretty livid,” said Dr. George Bakris, the director of the hypertension center at the University of Chicago. “Is this the golden age of Sparta? What is going on?” [....]