Treatment and control of hypertension as preventive therapy.

Hypertension increases the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart failure, and coronary artery disease. Studies have shown that treatment of even mild hypertension can reduce the occurrence of these adverse cardiovascular events--particularly stroke, congestive heart failure, and progression to more severe hypertension. Patients with newly diagnosed hypertension can be treated pharmacologically with thiazide-type diuretics, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, or calcium channel blockers. Nonpharmacologic therapy such as weight reduction can also play an important role in treatment. Additional study is needed to identify optimal drug treatment regimens and to clarify the association between treatment of hypertension and the occurrence of adverse effects from ischemic heart disease.