Effects of Treatment on Morbidity in Hypertension

A group of 143 male hypertensive patients with diastolic blood pressures (at the clinic) averaging between 115 and 129 mm Hg were randomly assigned to either active (hydrochlorothiazide plus reserpine plus hydralazine hydrochloride) or placebo treatment. Twenty-seven severe, complicating events developed in the placebotreated patients as compared to two in the active group. Four deaths occurred in the placebo-treated group and none in the actively treated patients. Other complications in the placebo group included grade 3 or 4 hypertensive retinopathy, congestive heart failure, increasing azotemia, cerebrovascular thrombosis, transient ischemic attacks, cerebral hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, and severely elevated blood pressure. Severe complications in the active-treatment group were one cerebrovascular thrombosis and one case of multiple drug toxicity. Male patients with diastolic blood pressures averaging 115 mm Hg or above represent a high-risk group in which antihypertensive therapy exerts a significant beneficial effect.