Selecting antihypertensive medication in patients with essential hypertension in Malaysia

Since hypertension is generally asymptomatic, in treating hypertension we are actually seeking to prevent target organ damage and reduce adverse clinical outcome. There have been numerous large clinical trials addressing the question of whether any antihypertensive drug has special protective effects on the cardiovascular and renal systems in addition to the benefit from blood pressure (BP) reduction1-15. In seeking to correctly interpret the message from these trials, it is important to avoid the confusion that can occur when pharmaceutical companies seek to make the results suit their marketing needs 16-18. The aim of this article is thus to provide an unbiased review of the value of the different antihypertensive drugs for the clinician treating essential hypertension in Malaysia.