Combination Treatment — Fixed Combinations in Effective Blood Pressure Control

Abstract

The strong theoretical reasons support the expectations that combination drug therapy in hypertension might be better than monotherapy. After the publication of the HOT study, the desirable diastolic blood pressure in hypertensives has dropped to between 80 and 85 mm Hg. The achievement of such low levels of blood pressure requires combination therapy in the majority of hypertensives. Combination therapy is set to become standard practice in the management of hypertension, so it is now appropriate to consider the principles involved in this kind of treatment. The following article reviews the features that make combination therapy — fixed combinations valuable.