[The contribution of ARB to medical treatment]

About 10 years have passed, since the first angiotensin receptor antagonist (ARB), losartan became commercially available in Japan. Six brands of ARB are now available. The excellent effects of ARBs have been demonstrated in recent large-scaled clinical trials such as CASE-J study, Jikei Heart study, HIJ-CREATE study etc. In these studies it was demonstrated that ARBs have moderate antihypertensive effects and pleiotropic actions beyond blood pressure reduction and furthermore ARBs show few side effects compared to other antihypertensive drugs. According to these excellent characteristics of ARBs, ARBs occupied the most important position in the treatment of hypertension. It is supposed that the increasing usage of ARBs will prolong the life span of Japanese people much more in future.