ABSTRACT
Progress in the elucidation and management of cardiovascular diseases provides a major illustration of the advances during the past quarter century in medical science and medical care. Perhaps the most outstanding in these achievements has been the knowledge which has accumulated about hypertensive disease. Although examples of major accomplishments are evident in many aspects of cardiovascular disease, the growth of information concerning hypertension has several striking reasons for deserving the accolade. First, hypertension is the most common cardiovascular ailment, affecting in varying degrees upwards of 10 to 15% of our population. Second, the knowledge gained about hypertension during this last 25 years comprises contributions from virtually all subdivisions of medical science, ranging from basic physiological, pharmacological, hormonal, neurological and psychological insights concerning mechanisms, to clinical applications and patient care by medical, surgical, endocrinological, psychiatric, and nutritional techniques. Third, hypertension is a risk factor involved in the development of many other ailments, non-cardiac as well as cardiac, and since its control is now possible, it represents a risk factor which lends itself to treatment more readily than most other threats to man's cardiovascular health, such as his cholesterol levels and his smoking habits.
