Do blood pressure meds really help?????

My 82 year old father was just diagnosed with CHF and Right Bundle Branch Block. His heart is also enlarged. His cardiologist said all his problems are caused by hypertensive heart disease, which means that years of high blood pressure caused the heart problems. Okay, he has had high blood pressure for about 20 years, but has always been on meds and his blood pressure has always been completely normal on the meds. So, since his pressure was normal on medication, how did high blood pressure damage and enlarge his heart? They tell us to take our blood pressure meds to prevent heart disease. Well apparently it doesn't do a bit of good to take them because you will get hypertensive heart disease anyway. This concerns me because I have had hypertension since I was in my teens, and it was not always well controlled when I was younger. But it has been well controlled for many years now. I am soon to be 53, and now because of my father's situation I am scared for myself. Are my meds not doing me any good? And I also worry about the times in my life when my blood pressure was not as well controlled. I'm worried now that medications won't really help me at all in the long run....and that's scary.

[Encephalomalcia]

Ace Inhibitors have been proven in studies to increase lifespan.  Beta blockers on the other hand have not shown to increase lifespan.  Beta blockers block the receptors to take the workload off of the heart.  Medications help to increase lifespan.  A friend of mine has had CHF for 14 years now (she was diagnosed at age 35).  The medications are what is keeping her going and she could not live without it.  People with CHF can live a long time.   My grandmother has just been diagnosed with CHF and reduced kidney funtion and she is 92.