Resistant hypertension - an update

Patients with hypertension are increasing in Bangladesh. Among these patients a growing number of patients are having resistant hypertension faced by both primary care physicians and specialists. There is no data regarding prevalence of resistant hypertension in Bangladesh, but clinical trials abroad suggests that it is not rare, involving perhaps 20% to 30% of study participants. Cardiovascular risk is undoubtedly increased in such patients and the condition is often complicated by multiple other cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, sleep apnea, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. Resistant hypertension is almost always multifactorial in etiology. Successful treatment requires identification and reversal of lifestyle factors contributing to treatment resistance; diagnosis and appropriate treatment of secondary causes of hypertension; and use of effective multi drug regimens. Studies of resistant hypertension are limited by the high cardiovascular risk of patients within this subgroup, which generally precludes safe withdrawal of medications; presence of multiple disease processes and their associated medical therapies, which confound interpretation of study results. Therefore we should concentrate on expanding our knowledge of the causes of resistant hypertension which will allow for more effective prevention and/or treatment which is essential to improve long-term clinical management of this condition.