Management of essential hypertension

Abstract

Hypertension, in spite of a very high prevalence, remains undertreated. This is not due to a lack of effective therapeutic modalities. Non-pharmacological treatments can be effective in many patients. If those treatments fail to reduce blood pressure sufficiently, the physician can choose between numerous classes of antihypertensive agents. However, interpatient variability in response to these agents is high, and use of multiple agents is frequently necessary. Thus, no single class has proven to be superior for the majority of patients. This article will review the different non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods available to treat hypertension, as well as the guidelines that are available to aid in proper selection of a treatment regimen.

• adrenergic-α antagonists
• adrenergic-β antagonists
• angiotensin receptor blockers
• angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors
• antihypertensive agents
• calcium channel blockers
• diuretics
• hypertension