Recommendations for first-line antihypertensive drugs and combination therapies

Conclusions

The pathophysiology of essential hypertension is not homogeneous; it is thought to consist of multifactorial disorders. Therefore, an appropriate first-line antihypertensive drug should be selected according to the pathophysiologic state of this disease in each patient. In this article, preferable first-line antihypertensive drugs were discussed from a clinical, general practice viewpoint on the basis of the pathophysiologic characteristics of patients with benign essential hypertension. The usefulness of some low-dose combination therapies was also discussed from the same viewpoint.