Abstract :
Two problems in the treatment of hypertension continue to be largely unsolved. The first, and more simple, is our inability to adequately control blood pressure in the majority of hypertensive patients. This not only reflects the difficulty of retaining patients in effective treatment programs, but also of convincing physicians to strive for optimal blood pressure levels. There is a continuing need for new antihypertensive drugs and combinations to help accomplish these goals. The second major problem is that the major clinical endpoints, including coronary events and renal failure, have not been adequately reduced by traditional therapies. Standard regimens, particularly those including diuretics, have protected against strokes and heart failure. Our improved understanding of vascular biology in hypertension has directed interest to the mechanisms in hypertensive patients that might accelerate atherosclerosis and vascular events in these individuals. This involves addressing the concomitant metabolic risk factors that comprise the “Hypertension Syndrome,” and, perhaps of equal importance, finding therapies that directly inhibit unwanted types of growth and proliferative activities within the walls of critical arteries. Many substances within the endothelium and the vascular wall may participate as initiators or mediators of pathology, but most information thus far has focused on the renin-angiotensin system. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (and potentially angiotensin receptor blockers) have provided coronary and renal protection in various cardiovascular conditions, though not yet in formal hypertension trials. Calcium channel blockers have also shown promise, including recent stroke and cardiovascular benefits in patients with isolated systolic hypertension, but, again, definitive coronary data in hypertension are awaited. Unless concomitant conditions mandate the selection of a particular antihypertensive drug class, physicians currently have a dilemma: should they choose drugs from older classes that have not provided full protection? Or, should they prescribe newer agents with exciting potential but with, as yet, unproved endpoint benefits in hypertension? Until currently ongoing prospective trials of antihypertensive therapy are completed, physicians must be guided by their own interpretations of the available data.
