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Outcomes from treatment. Clinical applications from recent trials
1Department of Clinical Pharmacology University of NSW, St George Hospital, New South Wales.
Background:
Several recent studies have addressed issues including the optimum blood pressure target and differences between antihypertensive drug classes in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Objective:
To review the results of several recent and topical hypertension trials.
Discussion:
There is remaining uncertainty about the optimal blood pressure target with the exception of diabetics in whom aggressive blood pressure reduction has been shown to be more effective in reducing morbidity and mortality than less aggressive reduction. It remains unclear whether there are differences between antihypertensive drug classes in their ability to reduce cardiovascular events. At least two studies have demonstrated that it is possible to achieve good blood pressure control in the majority of hypertensive patients if two or more antihypertensive drugs are used.