A major study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concluded that 9 out of 10 middle-aged and older US adults are likely to develop high blood pressure over their remaining lifetime. The researchers also found that the lifetime probability of receiving antihypertensive medication was 60%.

Researchers emphasized that it is widely accepted that hypertension can be avoided with appropriate lifestyle changes. The study authors also wrote,

The approach of waiting for hypertension to develop and only then treating the elevated blood pressure is injudicious. As articulated by Stamler, such a strategy is “late, defensive, reactive, time consuming, associated with side effects, costly, only partially successful, and endless.”

For more information see:
“Residual Lifetime Risk for Developing Hypertension in Middle-aged Women and Men” by Ramachandran S. Vasan, MD; Alexa Beiser, PhD; Sudha Seshadri, MD; Martin G. Larson, ScD; William B. Kannel, MD; Ralph B. D’Agostino, PhD; Daniel Levy, MD. JAMA. 2002;287(8):1003-1010. doi: 10.1001/jama.287.8.1003. Can be viewed online at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/287/8/1003.