A good friend of ours , the smartest guy in the room . Used to tour with us all on our motorcycles . All of the sudden he thought he didn't need to take BP meds . He even told me he felt better when he did not take them . About a year after that he had a stroke , now he rides one of those scooters like you see at Walmart . He smiles and mumbles now . We really miss riding with Wayne.
I am very sorry for what happened to your friend. However, I think it's useful to look at the whole body of evidence on whether a particular med. does more harm than good (overall, to a large group of people) rather than trying to draw too many conclusions based on a sample size of one. Even with blood pressure meds, there is plenty of evidence out there that treating mild hypertention with drugs is not always a good idea. Here is one article about that, along with a quote from the article:
Blood pressure drugs for mild hypertension: Not proven to prevent heart attacks, strokes, or early death
"Given the possibility that future trials will identify at best a small, currently nonapparent benefit, it seems clear that the best thing for doctors to do would be simply to
tell patients the truth—that while the best current evidence doesn’t support routine treatment of mild hypertension, we really don’t know for sure. But we do know this: Emphasizing far more effective—and evidence-based—approaches, such as exercising, quitting smoking, and following a Mediterranean diet, seems to be a very good idea. And besides, they work."
Here's another one worth reading, and another quote:
https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/stroke-blood-pressure-drugs/2015/06/02/id/648189/
"Taking blood pressure drugs is viewed as the best way to avoid stroke, but researchers at the University of Alabama report that the risk remains elevated despite medication. Also, the more drugs used to lower blood pressure, the higher the risk.
Their study involved 26,785 participants 45 and older. That group included 12,327 people with successfully controlled blood pressure (systolic upper number less than 140 mmHG) and 4,090 whose blood pressure was unsuccessfully treated. The researchers followed them for six years and found that more than 820 had suffered strokes.
Scientists found the risk of stroke went up by a third for each blood pressure medication taken. People who needed three or more medications were at a 248 percent higher risk than those whose normal systolic blood pressure was less than 120mmHG.
That risk is similar to people whose blood pressure is high but who are not taking any drugs to control it, researchers said."
I have no idea what your friend's medical history was, how severe his hypertension was, whether he had ever smoked, what kind of diet he ate, how much exercise he got, etc.. All of those things can be important with regard to stroke risk. I am not saying here that people should never take drugs for hypertention, because clearly there are some folks that should. However, if I had mild hypertension, I think I would first look into lifestyle changes I could make that might improve my condition, before I agreed to go on a med. for it.
