Hallberg's Picture of Health: Lowering blood pressure

Blood pressure check
Augsburg College professor and nurse athleen Clark checks Darryl Brown's blood pressure at Health Commons at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minn. Monday, Feb. 2, 2015.
Jeffrey Thompson | MPR News file

How low should your blood pressure be?

A study on blood pressure was stopped more than a year early by the National Institutes of Health because the results were so clear to researchers.

From NPR:

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Cutting blood pressure below the currently recommended target can significantly reduce the rate of heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and deaths, federal health officials reported Friday.

The findings come from the largest study ever conducted to examine whether reducing systolic blood pressure — the top number patients get when examined — below the currently recommended goal would be beneficial.

Dr. Jon Hallberg spoke with MPR News' Tom Crann buzz the study is generating.

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