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Treating Hypertension with Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers

A Step Ahead of Blood Pressure Reduction?

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Abstract

The clinical use of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) has resulted in the effective and successful treatment of arterial hypertension, and vast experience has been gained by physicians in this original indication over the last years. Furthermore, promising results have been obtained with the use of ARBs in other clinical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus with nephropathy, atrial fibrillation, acute myocardial infarction complicated by left ventricular dysfunction and congestive heart failure. On the basis of the available evidence, some representative molecules of this class have been approved for other indications in addition to hypertension in many countries, and many large clinical investigations are underway to confirm the current indications and, even more importantly, to explore whether these compounds may be effectively used in other conditions. The evidence that ARBs can have benefits at any stage of the cardiovascular disease continuum underlies the potential beneficial effects of these agents — independent of blood pressure reduction — in a wide variety of patients at risk of cardiovascular major events.

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Acknowledgements

The authors have lectured to and collaborated scientifically with pharmaceutical companies producing angiotensin II receptor blockers.

The authors wish to thank Giuliano Tocci, MD, for help and assistance in preparing the manuscript.

No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this review. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hypertension Unit, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain

    Luis M. Ruilope

  2. Division of Cardiology, II Faculty of Medicine, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Via di Grottarossa, Rome, 1035-39, 00189, Italy

    Massimo Volpe

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  1. Luis M. Ruilope
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  2. Massimo Volpe
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Correspondence to Massimo Volpe.

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Ruilope, L.M., Volpe, M. Treating Hypertension with Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers. High Blood Press Cardiovasc Prev 12, 9–15 (2005). https://doi.org/10.2165/00151642-200512010-00003

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