Pharmacotherapy of human hypertension is effective, safe and well-tolerated. Antihypertensive drugs are of three broad classes: diuretics, sympatholytics and vasodilators. The use of each class is discussed and a summary of therapeutic considerations offered for representative agents. Recent trends in antihypertensive therapy are identified.

Blood pressure (BP) is known to vary over time within individuals. Although variability between office visits has traditionally been regarded as a barrier to the accurate measurement of BP, several recent studies have reported strong associations between visit-to-visit variability (VVV) of BP and increased risk for cardiovascular outcomes. In this article, we review data on VVV of BP and outcom...

BACKGROUND Despite a recent American Heart Association (AHA) consensus statement emphasizing the importance of resistant hypertension (RH), its control is still a challenge for conventional medicine. The Chinese herbal formula, Qutan Huayu Fang, has been used effectively to assist antihypertensive agents in blood pressure control, but its effect for RH patients is still unclear. This pilot stud...

s From the 30 Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Melbourne, Australia

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the outcomes with use of renin angiotensin system (RAS) blockers compared with other antihypertensive agents in people with diabetes. DESIGN Meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane central register of controlled trials databases for randomized trials of RAS blockers versus other antihypertensive agents in people with diabetes me...