Hypertension management in populations.

A variety of lifestyle modification and drug therapies can be used to treat hypertension. Hypertension awareness, as well as drug treatment, and control rates have improved progressively in the United States during the last three decades. The extent to which lifestyle modification interventions are being utilized to treat hypertension is uncertain. There has been a progressive shift from antihypertensive drug therapy with diuretics and beta blockers toward treatment with newer and more expensive agents such as calcium channel blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. The newer agents are well tolerated and effective in lowering blood pressure but their efficacy in preventing cardiovascular disease complications is less well documented. In order to reduce the burden of blood pressure-related cardiovascular disease in the general population, treatment of hypertension must be complemented by a parallel strategy to prevent hypertension.