Treatment strategy to control blood pressure optimally in hypertensive patients

Pharmacological treatment of hypertension significantly reduces the inciden ce of cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately, only a fraction of hypertensi ve patients benefit maximally from the protection afforded by the blood pre ssure lowering, mainly because the blood pressure control achieved during a ntihypertensive therapy remains often insufficient. One way to improve this situation is to individualize the treatment in determining for each patien t the most simple drug regimen, which is at the same time efficacious and w ell tolerated. To this end, combining small doses of drugs acting by differ ent mechanisms is often required. It is also essential that physicians deve lop skills to motivate their patients to comply lifelong with the treatment .