Controlling hypertension to reduce the risk of stroke.

Long-term hypertension has been implicated as one of the greatest risk factors for the cause of stroke, but yet it is a very controllable one. The risks of stroke increase with age and, as the population of the United States grows older, the number of people who will experience a stroke will greatly increase. In the past, various antihypertensive therapies have proved to lower blood pressure with a resulting decrease in stroke. Stroke can be devastating in terms of quality of life and cost of care; therefore, prevention of stroke should become a priority for all health care professionals. As newer antihypertensive classes of drugs are being studied in high-risk cardiovascular populations, health care professionals need to educate themselves and their patients regarding new treatment options, where these options belong within treatment guidelines for hypertension, and their relevance in preventing the incidence of stroke. This review briefly summarizes the significance of controlling hypertension to reduce the risk of stroke by reviewing some of the clinical trials that support pharmacologic intervention. Copyright 2002 CHF, Inc.