THE 4 SEASONS OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE THERAPY

The development of anthy-hypertensive therapy and its achievements ove r the last 40 years are reviewed. The following are identified as the still unanswered questions: the pharmacological treatment of mild hype rtension; the limited efficacy of anti-hypertensive therapy in the red uction of the number of myocardial infarctions; the negative effect of some types of antihypertensive treatment on plasma lipids; the lack o f efficacy of some drugs in reducing left ventricular hypertophy; the difficulty in establishing the optimal levels of blood pressure and of ten the difficulty in achieving those levels.