The kidney, hypertension, and remaining challenges.
There is an epidemic of chronic kidney disease in the Western world, with hypertension being the second most common cause. Blood pressure control rates, while improving, are still below 50% for the United States population. The following three challenges remain for the treatment of hypertension and associated prevention of end-stage kidney disease. First, a better understanding by the general medical community of how and in whom to use renin angiotensin aldosterone system blockers is needed. Second, the appropriate initiation of fixed-dose combination therapy to achieve blood-pressure goals needs to be clarified. Finally, the subgroup of patients with kidney disease needs more aggressive blood pressure lowering.
Khosla
Nitin
N
Department of Medicine, Section of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
Kalaitzidis
Rigas
R
Bakris
George L
GL
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006978:Hypertension, Renovascular / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System / Q000187:drug effects; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents