The number of patients advised to take pills for early signs of high blood pressure will be tripled under new guidance.

Cardiac experts said the changes - aimed at preventing heart attacks and strokes - could save thousands of lives.

Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommends one million adults with stage 1 symptoms should be offered the drugs.

It compares with around 290,000 such cases who are currently eligible for treatment.

But GPs raised concerns about “overdiagnosis” - and whether the risks of side-effects could outweigh the benefits for such patients.

The new advice changes the eligibility thresholds for medication, meaning that far more patients with “stage one hypertension” - a reading of 140/90 or higher - should be offered the drugs.

Medication, which costs just pennies, includes ACE inhibitors, diuretics and beta-blockers.

Until now, Nice has advised that men and women should be put on the pills if they have a reading of at least 140/90 mmHg and a 20 per cent risk of developing heart disease within a decade.

Around 290,000 adults fall into this classification. The new guidance halves the threshold to 10 per cent - meaning an extra 720,000 men and women will fall into the category.