New research suggests that the best time for people with hypertension to take their blood pressure pills is at bedtime rather than in the morning.

It appears that not only does this timing result in better blood pressure control, but that it also markedly reduces the risk of cardiovascular death and events such as a heart attack or stroke.

Researchers came to these conclusions after analyzing data from the Hygia Chronotherapy Trial.

Hygia is the largest and longest lasting clinical trial to examine the effects of antihypertensive medication timing on the risk of cardiovascular events.

The investigators behind the present findings randomly assigned 19,084 adults to take the blood pressure pills that their doctors had prescribed either when they woke up in the morning or at bedtime. The participants were of Caucasian Spanish descent, and 8,470 were female.

During an average follow-up of 6 years, all individuals underwent 48-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at least once per year.

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