(HealthScoutNews) -- When it comes to reducing blood pressure, lower is better, says a new Japanese study.

The researchers presented their findings today at the American Heart Association's 56th Annual High Blood Pressure Research Conference in Orlando, Fla.

In people taking a variety of medications to lower their blood pressure, those whose blood pressure was reduced to lower than the standard goal also had reduced stiffness in their arteries. People treated to the standard goal didn't experience the same improvement in their artery stiffness, the study says.

"Artery stiffness is associated with heart disease and death in people with high blood pressure," says study senior researcher Dr. Atsuhiro Ichihara of the Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo.

The researchers used pulse wave velocity (PWV) to measure vascular stiffness and to determine if the use of antihypertensive drugs to lower blood pressure would affect aortic stiffness in nondiabetic people who had high blood pressure.

PWV is calculated by determining the distance between the brachial artery in the arm and the tibial artery in the ankle. That distance is divided by the time it takes a pressure wave to travel between the two points.

The 142 study participants were divided into two groups. One group had their blood pressure reduction target set for less than 130/85 mm Hg and the other group's target was 140/90 mm Hg.

Normal blood pressure is less than 130/85 mm Hg.

Over the course of the yearlong study, systolic (the top number) pressure in the more intensive target group decreased significantly to 129 mm Hg, while the more moderate group decreased to 153 mm Hg.

At the start of the study, PWV averaged 1,779 centimeters per second (cm/s) in the intensive group and 1,891 cm/s in the more moderate group. By the end of the study, PWV decreased to 1,621 cm/s in the intensive target group but there was no significant change in the moderate reduction group.

"Intensive blood-pressure lowering is most important for the reduction in PWV. However, future studies will be needed to confirm which antihyperintensive drugs are better for aortic stiffness when blood pressure lowering is achieved," Ichihara says.

More Information

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more on lowering blood pressure.

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