Via practica 4/2019

Benefits of combination therapy in the treatment of arterial hypertension

Arterial hypertension is a serious global health issue, affecting millions of patients. Although modern and effective antihypertensive drugs are available, most patients remain with a suboptimal blood pressure control. Therefore, hypertensive patients will need a combination of antihypertensive agents to achieve the therapeutic goals. Recent 2018 ESC/ESH Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension recommend initiating treatment with two drugs – as fixed drug combination. Combination therapy provides greater antihypertensive effect than the use of high doses of monotherapy, and adherence to treatment is also better. The benefit of fixed combination therapy for patient prognosis has also been confirmed. Compared to free antihypertensive combinations, there has been a significant reduction in cardiovascular events.

Keywords: monotherapy, fixed drug combinations, adherence to treatment, prognosis