FDR and hypertension: if we'd only known then what we know now.
Fifty years ago, when President Roosevelt died of complications from severe hypertension, there was no effective medication to reduce elevated blood pressure. Since then, three breakthroughs have contributed significantly to the successful management of hypertension: actuarial and observational studies that have identified risk factors for cardiovascular disease; the development of safe and effective antihypertensive drugs; and prospective, randomized trials that have shown the effectiveness of antihypertensive therapy. Mortality from stroke has decreased by almost 60% and mortality from heart attack by almost 50%. Even so, many hypertensives remain unidentified and untreated, a challenge for today's physicians.
Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, USA.
R W
RW
Gifford
D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005197:Famous Persons; D006076:Government; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000266:history; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014481:United States
D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents