The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) defines hypertension as the level of blood pressure at which has been shown in numerous clinical trials where the benefits of initiating anti-hypertensives outweigh risks/side effects of treatment1.
Both NICE and ESC agree the cut-off values for a diagnosis of hypertension are a SBP≥140mmHg and/or DBP≥90mmHg1,2.
