抄録
The benefits of treatment with anti-hypertensive drugs not only include a reduction in stroke incidence of 40% but also a reduction in cardiac deaths, severe congestive heart failure, severe retinal changes and almost certainly a reduction in the incidence of angina. The risks depend on the drug employed and include gout and diabetes mellitus for diuretics and symptom side effects with all drugs. Certain drugs have been proven to impair the quality of life of treated patients. The cost of an extra year of life gained is lower in men, in the elderly and at higher levels of diastolic pressure. It is desirable to adjust the years of life gained by their quality (a cost-utility analysis) but such methods await good data. (Hypertens Res 1994; 17 Suppl. I: S115-S119)
