Results of Hypotensive Therapy in Arterial Hypertension

The influence of antihypertensive treatment over the incidence of cerebral vascular disease

“…Simultaneously, Smirk (1953) showed an improved prognosis in respect of congestive cardiac failure amongst treated hypertensive patients. Although the benefits of treating non-malignant hypertension are less welldefined, all would now agree that treatment of hypertension in the young and middle-aged is effective in lowering the mortality rate (Hodge, McQueen & Smirk, 1961) and in the prevention of complications of hypertension, particularly stroke (Hamilton, Thompson & Wisniewski, 1964;Veterans Administration Co-operative Study Group, 1967). In this study we review the incidence of stroke and certain other vascular complications of hypertension amongst a group oftreated hypertensive subjects, and correlate the findings with the quality of control of hypertension.…”

Causes of Death in Treated Hypertensive Patients

“…In our earlier analysis (Hodge et al, 1961) The accounts of these sudden deaths suggested that they were cardiac.…”

“…There is need for more precise and simple methods for controlling the blood-pressure of hypertensives, but when full use is made of existing drugs there is a great diminution in the mortality from congestive heart failure (Smirk and Alstad, 1951;Smith and Fowler, 1955;Smirk et al, 1958) and an important but less dramatic decrease in the occurrence of deaths from stroke (Hodge et al, 1961).…”

“…In our earlier analysis (Hodge et al, 1961) we compared the causes of death in our treated patients with those in a somewhat milder untreated group the composition of which was detailed. These figures have been reproduced in Table VII for comparison with those of the current analysis.…”

“…We have already produced evidence that survival is also improved in less severe cases. In an analysis of our clinic experience up to December 31, 1958, Hodge, McQueen, andSmirk (1961) expressed the number of treated patients dying from cerebral vascular accidents as a percentage of the number of persons at risk. The percentage of cerebral vascular accidents in the treated persons was about half of that found among a somewhat milder group of patients who were not receiving treatment.…”