Hypertension increases the risk of a number of conditions including heart failure, stroke, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, peripheral arterial disease and vascular dementia. Modifying a patient’s lifestyle or using drug therapy to control high blood pressure reduces these risks. Studies have shown that every 10mmHg reduction in blood pressure resulted in a:

• 17 per cent reduction in coronary heart disease
• 27 per cent reduction in stroke
• 28 per cent reduction in heart failure
• 13 per cent reduction in all-cause mortality.

In order to achieve treatment goals, a step wise approach should be adopted with a combination of lifestyle interventions and, where these do not reduce blood pressure, antihypertensive medicines. Patients with resistant hypertension may need to take up to four different antihypertensive medicines.