title: Ongoing clinical trials in systemic hypertension.
abstract: Hypertension was identified as a cardiovascular risk factor in the late fifties and still remains a public health issue. The number of patients treated reaches only half of those diagnosed and, of those treated, half fail to reach target blood pressure. Furthermore, the number of antihypertensive drugs reaching the market has increased exponentially in the last few years, however, the impact on treatment and on attaining target blood pressure levels remains to be seen. The high percentage of treated patients who do not reach target blood pressure, combined with the high number of patients requiring more than one antihypertensive drug, have triggered a series of long-term morbidity and mortality trials comparing different therapeutic approaches ('new' pharmacological classes vs. 'old' pharmacological classes). These are described in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Speedel Group, Hirschgaesslein 11, 4051 Basel, Switzerland. jessica.mann@speedelgroup.com
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oddou
mesh_terms: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents