Abstract
SummaryA good practical organization and few side-effects of the drugs are necessary to attain high reliability and few drop-outs in the treatment of mild hypertension. Some results from a randomized controlled trial in 800 men aged 40 to 49 years receiving drug treatment for borderline hypertension are presented. During 2.5 years the drop-out has only been 0.5%. There is a difference of 17 mmHg in systolic blood pressure and 10 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure between the treatment and the control group. Biochemical and subjective side-effects of hydrochlorothiazide, alphamethyldopa and propranolol are discussed. The combination of hydrochlorothiazide-propranolol seems to produce fewer subjective side-effects than hydrochlorothiazide-alphamethyldopa in this patient category.