Document Detail


Blood pressure lowering only or more? Has the jury reached its verdict?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17666196     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
There is a great need for antihypertensive agents that go beyond blood pressure lowering to treat the underlying pathophysiologic conditions that contribute to cardiovascular disease. However, the results of published outcome studies have been variable because they have investigated patients with complicated, high-risk hypertension. Although this ensures a sufficient number of cardiovascular events to demonstrate drug-drug differences, the potent effects of blood pressure lowering in high-risk patients obscures differential non-blood pressure effects. Despite these limitations, reductions in the risk of stroke, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes mellitus have been demonstrated with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockade. Guidelines currently recommend thiazide diuretics in stage 1 hypertension, but this is based on data from high-risk patients, and extrapolation to stage 1 disease may not be appropriate. Both blood pressure and cardiovascular risk increase exponentially from early in a patient's life, leading to clinically relevant differences in the pathophysiology of stage 1 versus complicated hypertension. Importantly, patients with stage 1 hypertension typically require 30-40 years of treatment. Thus, secondary effects of antihypertensive drugs on various blood pressure-independent cardiovascular risk factors are likely to become manifest. Clinical trials in mild forms of hypertension are essential to investigate the non-blood pressure effects of antihypertensive agents.
Authors:
Stevo Julius
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Review     Date:  2007-05-29
Journal Detail:
Title:  The American journal of cardiology     Volume:  100     ISSN:  0002-9149     ISO Abbreviation:  Am. J. Cardiol.     Publication Date:  2007 Aug 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-08-01     Completed Date:  2007-09-25     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0207277     Medline TA:  Am J Cardiol     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  32J-37J     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. sjulius@med.umich.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers / administration & dosage,  therapeutic use*
Antihypertensive Agents / administration & dosage,  therapeutic use*
Cardiovascular Diseases / physiopathology,  prevention & control*
Drug Therapy, Combination
Humans
Hypertension / drug therapy*,  physiopathology
Renin-Angiotensin System / drug effects
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers; 0/Antihypertensive Agents

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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