NEW ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS AND NEW APPROACHES TO HYPERTENSION

This review of new antihypertensive drugs concentrates on an exciting new class of antihypertensive agents, the orally active angiotensin II receptor antagonists, and their potential role in the management of hypertension. These drugs have been evaluated within the last year or so to determine their efficacy and safety as blood-pressure-lowering agents and to unravel the role of the renin-angiotensin system in the pathophysiology of hypertension. In addition, renin inhibitors have undergone further clinical trials in hypertension. The use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors for the treatment of symptomatic heart failure of all grades has become established since the publication of the report of the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) group and the Vasodilator Heart Failure Trial-II (V-HeFT-II) study. The role of newer beta-blocking agents and novel formulations of drug delivery that have been applied to calcium antagonists in particular are discussed. The section on new approaches to hypertension treatment focuses on isolated systolic hypertension and hypertension in the elderly.