LONG-TERM CLINICAL-TRIALS IN HYPERTENSION

Long-term clinical trials of antihypertensive therapy have demonstrated that diuretic-based therapy consistently reduced fatal and non-fatal cerebrovascular events regardless of age, race or gender; the frequency of ECC left ventricular hypertrophy, retinopathy and progression of hypertension were also reduced, and cardiomegaly and ECC left ventricular hypertrophy were reversed. A case can be made for initiating antihypertensive therapy whenever diastolic blood pressure remains ≥90 mmHg despite a fair trial of non-pharmacologic treatment. Elderly patients with diastolic hypertension benefit from diuretic-based therapy at least until the age of 80 years.; Whether ACE inhibitors or calcium channel blockers are more effective than diuretics in preventing cardiovascular complications remains to be seen. So far, there have been no long-term trials using these agents as initial therapy. © Current Science Ltd.