As patient BP and risk of future CVD events increase, BP management should be intensified. 8.1. Pharmacological Treatment 8.1.1. Initiation of Pharmacological BP Treatment in the Context of Overall CVD Risk For any specific difference in BP, the relative risk of CVD is constant across groups that differ in absolute risk of ath- albeit with some evidence of lesser relative risk but greater excess risk in older than in younger adults.S8.1.1-5 S8.1.1-8 Thus, there are more poten- tially preventable CVD events attributable to elevated BP in individuals with higher than with lower risk of CVD and in older than in younger adults. The relative risk reduction for CVD prevention with use of BP-lowering medications is fairly constant for groups that differ in CVD risk across a wide range of estimated absolute riskS8.1.1-9,S8.1.1-10 and across groups defined by sex, age, body mass index, and the pres- ence or absence of DM, AF, and CKD.S8.1.1-5,S8.1.1-11 S8.1.1-21 As a consequence, the absolute CVD risk reduction attributable to BP lowering is greater at greater absolute levels of CVD Put another way, for a given magnitude of BP reduction due to antihy- pertensive medications, fewer individuals at high CVD risk would need to be treated to prevent a CVD event (ie, lower number needed to treat) than those at low CVD risk. Table 17. Basic and Optional Laboratory Tests for Primary Hypertension Basic testing Fasting blood glucose* Complete blood count Lipid profile Serum creatinine with eGFR* Serum sodium, potassium, calcium* Thyroid-stimulating hormone Urinalysis Electrocardiogram Optional testing Echocardiogram Uric acid Urinary albumin to creatinine ratio *May be included in a comprehensive metabolic panel. eGFR indicates estimated glomerular filtration rate. 8.1.2. 