Pharmacoeconomics and quality of life analysis of telmisartan in hypertension treatment

Hypertension is a major public health problem, being one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide and a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system plays an important role in volume homeostasis and blood pressure regulation, and is a target for several groups of pharmaceutical agents. Telmisartan, a highly selective AT1 receptor antagonist, fulfills all new criteria for antihypertensive agents: high effectiveness, high specificity, high compliance and fewer adverse effects. Several clinical trials and the clinical practice setting indicate substantial evidence that telmisartan, either as monotherapy or in combination with other antihypertensive drugs, provides long-term antihypertensive efficacy. In fact, telmisartan has the property to sustain blood pressure control throughout the 24-h dosage interval. Furthermore, telmisartan can play an important role in improving compliance, because of its documented good tolerability profile, which limits the adverse effects. This article provides the most recent data of the pharmacoeconomic position of telmisartan and its treatment effects on quality of life.