What is the effect of antihypertensive treatment on prehypertensive patients? 
A meta-analysis of 16 trials involving 70664 prehypertensive patients showed that prehyperten- sive patients randomized to active antihypertensive treatment had a consistent and statistically significant 22% reduction in the risk of stroke compared with those taking placebo. Several trials have also addressed the potential role of antihypertensive treatment among patients with prevalent CVD but without hypertension, and the results from a meta-analysis of 25 trials showed that patients receiving antihypertensive medications had a pooled RR for stroke of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.61 0.98) compared with control subjects.