Original Contribution Is Blood Pressure Control for Stroke Prevention the Correct Goal? The Lost Opportunity of Preventing Hypertension George Howard, DrPH; Maciej Banach, MD, PhD; Mary Cushman, MD; David C. Goff, MD, PhD; Virginia J. Howard, PhD; Daniel T. Lackland, DrPH; Jim McVay, DrPA; James F. Meschia, MD; Paul Muntner, PhD; Suzanne Oparil, MD; Melanie Rightmyer, DNP; Herman A. Taylor, MD Background and Purpose—Although pharmacological treatment of hypertension has important health benefits, it does not capture the benefit of maintenance of ideal health through the prevention or delay of hypertension. Methods—A total of 26 875 black and white participants aged 45+ years were assessed and followed for incident stroke events. The association was assessed between incident stroke and: (1) systolic blood pressure (SBP)categorized as normal (