Did you know that one in four people have hypertension? And with recent changes to diagnostic criteria in major clinical practice guidelines, the prevalence is only going to increase. With concerns about the cost, effectiveness, and potential for side effects of antihypertensive drugs, isn’t it time we looked beyond the pharmacy shelves to lower blood pressure?

On this episode, Dr. Huseyin Naci PhD (T: @huseyinnaci2) joins BJSM’s Daniel Friedman (T:@ddfriedman) to discuss his recently published BJSM meta-analysis that compares the effectiveness of exercise and antihypertensive medications on lowering blood pressure.

Dr Naci is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. During the 2018-2019 academic year, he is a UK Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Medical School. His research to date has evaluated the quality and quantity of the evidence base underpinning the approval, adoption, and reimbursement of new pharmaceutical and health technologies in Europe and the US. He has a PhD in Health Policy from the Department of Social Policy at the LSE and an MHS in International Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In this 20 minute conversation, Dr Naci discusses:

· The history of antihypertensive medications

· Exercise’s effects on blood pressure

· The findings of his latest meta-analysis

· His 2013 study that compared the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions on mortality

· The clinical practice and guideline implications of the meta-analysis

Further reading:

Naci H, Ioannidis JP. Comparative effectiveness of exercise and drug interventions on mortality outcomes: metaepidemiological study. Bmj. 2013 Oct 1;347:f5577. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2018/12/05/bjsports-2018-099921.citation-tools