Blood pressure reduction during treatment: day and night or daytime only?

PROGNOSTIC EFFECTS OF DAY-NIGHT BLOOD PRESSURE DIFFERENCE: In the vast majority of patients with hypertension, blood pressure during sleep is approximately 10-15% lower than during waking hours, but these levels are still higher than those in normotensive subjects. In some patients, the difference in blood pressure between daytime and night-time is smaller than in others, and these patients have been shown to have more severe cardiovascular complications.

Maintaining uniform blood pressure control over 24 h seems to be a desirable goal, which can be achieved with long-acting antihypertensive drugs administered once daily.