Antihypertensive drug therapy: a review based on recent guidelines

In 2013 and 2014, many guidelines regarding the management of hypertension were released from various worldwide professional bodies. These guidelines are similar in their recommendations, but some differences are evident due to different choices and interpretations of evidence from clinical trials used in setting the guidelines. A noticeable change that is common to all the guidelines is an increase in the target blood pressure for the treatment of hypertension to 140/90 mmHg. The guidelines also introduce invasive approaches, such as renal sympathetic denervation, as additional measures to better manage resistant hypertension. This review gives a summary of recent guidelines from North America, Europe, and Asia for the management of hypertension, with a focus on pharmacological treatment, and compares these guidelines with the Korean guidelines.