The family physician and special groups of hypertensives.

Future hypertension research will include not only fundamental pathophysiology and new methods of drug therapy but also research into which groups require special treatment. Hypertension is most common in the elderly, but after age 70 is only weakly associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, mainly in females, and more related to systolic hypertension than diastolic. Hypotensive therapy has not yet proven to be of benefit in this age group. Trials of therapy, perhaps especially in systolic hypertension, in women and in previous stroke victims could well be carried out cooperatively by family physicians. The effectiveness of salt reduction and weight reduction in lowering blood pressure is controversial, but could be tested in cooperative trials, especially for borderline hypertensives and possibly for children of hypertensive parents.