ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Freis et al. demonstrated convincingly that the administration of antihypertensive drugs was associated with a marked reduction in target organ damage and fatal events when compared to placebotreated patients, in subjects with severe hypertension, as well as in those with mild and moderate essential hypertension (1,2). Since then, medical treatment has become the cornerstone of the management of essential hypertension in the population, once lifestyle changes have been implemented. Thus, it is now well established that pharmacological treatment of hypertension is effective in lowering blood pressure and hence in decreasing cardiovascular mortality and complications such as stroke, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, or chronic kidney disease (CKD) (3,4). Evidence shows that reduction of blood pressure (BP) is not only effective in patients with isolated diastolic or combined systolo-diastolic hypertension but also in elderly patients with isolated systolic hypertension (5).
