The Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program was a multicenter controlled clinical trial supported by the NHLBI to study the cardiovascular and psychological effects of isolated systolic hypertension in the elderly and to determine the efficacy and evaluate possible adverse effects of drug treatment for this condition. A total of 4,736 patients were followed until 1991. Elderly individuals with isolated systolic hypertension are clearly at increased risk of both heart attack and stroke. This group has been shown in pilot studies to also have high prevalence of carotid disease and lower extremity arterial disease. Selected risk factors such as older age, male sex, and smoking were found to be related to an increased prevalence of disease. This study allowed validation of these initial observations.