28 Percent of U.S. Adults With HTN Eligible for Treatment Under New Guidelines

TUESDAY, Aug. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Under updated hypertension guidelines, about one-third of adults with hypertension are newly eligible for therapy, but 43 percent remain untreated, according to a study published online July 29 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.Mustafa Al-Jarshawi, M.B.Ch.B., from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and colleagues analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009 to 2018 data linked to mortality through 2018. Long-term population-level changes were estimated following the release of the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology updated hypertension guidelines in August 2025.The weighted cohort represented 81.0 million U.S. adults with hypertension, and of these, 28 percent were guideline-eligible for therapy; 57 and 43 percent were treated and remained untreated, respectively. The researchers found antihypertensive therapy was associated with significant reductions in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratios, 0.77 and 0.50, respectively). Universal treatment of eligible but untreated adults was projected to prevent about 200,900 all-cause deaths and about 162,600 cardiovascular deaths at 10 years. The greatest benefits were seen for adults with diabetes."What stood out most was the size of the treatment gap -- more than 40 percent of people who were clearly eligible under the new guideline were not receiving treatment -- as well as the scale of the potential benefit," Al-Jarshawi said in a statement.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

28 Percent of U.S. Adults With HTN Eligible for Treatment Under New Guidelines

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