What is "normal" blood pressure in the aged?

Blood pressure was studied in two groups of institutionalized subjects ranging in age from 50 to over 100 years. The first group comprised 199 selected normal subjects; subjects with any disease, including systemic hypertension, were excluded. The second group consisted of 947 unselected subjects; those with acute illness were excluded. In the first group, systolic pressure increased slightly, but diastolic pressure did not change with increasing age. The blood pressures were still within the limits that were considered normal for younger persons. In the second group, both the systolic and the diastolic pressures progressively decreased with age, so that the former fell below normal limits.