Current Perspectives in the Management of Hypertension

Hypertension, more precisely, systemic arterial hypertension is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases worldwide. High blood pressure is the most common modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Being a chronic condition, it requires a lifelong management to keep the blood pressure and its resultant life-threatening complications under control. Its toll on the economic state of a nation is also of serious concern that prompt action has to be undertaken to curb hypertension with effective health care policies. Recently, the “2014 Evidence-Based Guideline for the Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults”, put forth by the panel members appointed to the Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8), was released. This review focuses on the current strategies to manage hypertension with input from the latest guidelines around the globe such as, the 2014 JNC 8 Guidelines, the 2013 European Society of Hypertension/ European Society of Cardiology [ESH/ ESC] Guidelines, the 2011 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [NICE] Guidelines and the 2013 Indian Guidelines on Hypertension [I.G.H.-III]. *Corresponding author: Raj GM, Jawaharlal Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India, Tel: 91-0413-2255168, E-mail: [email protected] Raj GM*, Priyadarshini R and Mathaiyan J Hypertension is the most common controllable disease affecting around 40% of the adult population worldwide. It is also the most common condition encountered by a physician in primary care setup. Currently, almost 1 billion people are hypertensive, and it is estimated that in 2025, nearly 1.56 billion persons i.e. two-thirds of the world’s population would be inflicted with this chronic ailment. Hypertension is a “silent killer” accounting for a substantial amount of morbidity and mortality worldwide, which is preventable. Hypertension is reported to be the fourth contributor to premature mortality in developed countries and the seventh in developing countries. Almost 12.8% (7.5 million) of the total deaths and around 3.7% of the total DALYS (disability adjusted life years) are due to raised blood pressure (BP) [1,2]. Hypertension can also be proclaimed as an “iceberg” disease as only about half of the hypertensive subjects in the general population of most developed countries were aware of the disease, only about half of those aware of the problem were being treated and only about half of those treated were considered adequately treated [3]. End-organ damage leading to cardiovascular (CV) events affecting the heart, brain and kidneys are commonly encountered. It has been postulated that 54% of strokes (ischemic and hemorrhagic) and 47% of ischaemic heart diseases are attributable to high BP. And by means of several RCTs, the true value of pharmacotherapy for hypertension (HT) in reducing important health outcomes in hypertensive patients is overemphasized. Hence it is high time to find novel ways and means to overhaul HT and all its lethal consequences [1]. Citation: Raj GM, Priyadarshini R, Mathaiyan J (2015) Current Perspectives in the Management of Hypertension. SAJ Cardiol 1: 101 Volume 1 | Issue 1 Volume 1 | Issue