Drug selection for optimal treatment of hypertension in the elderly.

Progressive aging of the world's population means that choosing the most effective drugs for the elderly is becoming increasingly important. The treatment of hypertension in the elderly is complicated because of the need to consider altered pharmacokinetics, comorbidity and multiple drug therapy in these patients. Antihypertensive treatment in the elderly has important and documented beneficial effects. However, no single drug class is suitable as the first-choice therapy for all elderly patients. The most appropriate choice of an antihypertensive drug often depends on comparative adverse effect profiles and the presence of comorbid disease.