Scope of the problem and promise of prevention

The majority of patients who are seen by family or general practitioners are hypertensive. As life expectancy increases and the number of people aged over 65 years grows with the aging of the post-World War II baby boom generation, the amount of hypertension to be managed will continue to increase (Figure 1). These data are derived from a survey of the US population,1 but they apply to populations throughout the industrialized world. The higher prevalences seen in African-Americans apply to minority populations in other societies as well.