Editorial

Antihypertensive Agents: Are All of Them Equal?

Authors: Vivencio Barrios, MD, Carlos Escobar, MD

Abstract

Hypertension is one of the main cardiovascular risk factors. Different guidelines have reported that the presence of hypertension significantly increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee (JNC-7)1 and the European guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension2 show that even small elevations above optimal blood pressure (BP) values increase the likelihood of suffering a cardiovascular event. As a result, BP control is crucial to reduce cardiovascular outcomes in the hypertensive population. But on the other hand, the increased risk is also due in part to the presence of other associated cardiovascular risk factors that commonly cluster in most patients with hypertension, such as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and obesity. This is clinically very relevant taking into account that nowadays, the majority of patients commonly belong to high- or very high-risk subgroups, not only in the specialist setting, but even in primary care.3

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