BMJ 2003;326:61-62 ( 11 January )

Editorials

Drug treatment of hypertension

Most patients will need a treatment cocktailincluding a thiazide diuretic

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Hypertension is one of the most important preventable causes of premature death worldwide,¹ and the benefits of antihypertensive drugs have been confirmed by the largest evidence base from clinical trials in medicine. Many classes of drugs are available for treatment, and debate has raged about whether the benefits of treatment are purely a function of the quality of blood pressure control or whether the type of drug used might also be a powerful determinant of outcome. This is a key question because the difference in cost between "older" drugs (thiazides or  blockers) and "newer" drugs (such as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or calcium channel blockers) is substantial. A meta-analysis of trials of treatment for hypertension with the newer drugs found that ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers were likely to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality by the same order of magnitude as  blockers or thiazides,² but such analyses have . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Drug treatment of hypertension

Daniel G Hackam and John S Ashcroft
BMJ 2003 326: 764. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Antonopoulos, S., Kokkoris, S., Gerakari, S., Mikros, S., Nitsotolis, T., Vikeli, D., Korantzopoulos, P., Giannoulis, G. (2008). Comparison of Monotherapy Versus Combination Antihypertensive Therapy in Elderly Patients With Essential Hypertension. ANGIOLOGY 59: 230-235 [Abstract]  
• Griffin, K. A., Bidani, A. K. (2006). Progression of Renal Disease: Renoprotective Specificity of Renin-Angiotensin System Blockade. CJASN 1: 1054-1065 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Williams, B (2003). Drug treatment of hypertension: implications of ALLHAT. Heart 89: 589-590 [Full text]  
• Hackam, D. G, Ashcroft, J. S (2003). Drug treatment of hypertension. BMJ 326: 764-764 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Somewhat flawed conclusion.

D.G. Hackam
bmj.com, 10 Jan 2003 [Full text]

Biophysical Semeiotic Constitutions: the most powerful determinants of both complication occurrence

Sergio Stagnaro
bmj.com, 10 Jan 2003 [Full text]

We must be Aware of ‘Surgical Hypertension’ due to Reno-vascular Disease

Y.C. Chan
bmj.com, 11 Jan 2003 [Full text]

ALLHAT shows diuretics fare worst in preserving GFR

H T Ong
bmj.com, 11 Jan 2003 [Full text]

individualise hypertension patients

dr.manan vasenwala
bmj.com, 12 Jan 2003 [Full text]

Thiazides with your pension?

john s ashcroft
bmj.com, 11 Feb 2003 [Full text]

Yet another commentary on the ALLHAT-study

Martin Wehling, et al.
bmj.com, 4 Apr 2003 [Full text]