Thiazide diuretics as a foundation-stone of antihypertensive therapy

Several classes of antihypertensive agents are currently used to treat arterial hypertension. Thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics are still among the most popular antihypertensive drugs, because they offer adequate control of blood pressure and protection against major cardiovascular complications of arterial hypertension. Diuretics are the only class of antihypertensive drugs that have been conclusively shown to reduce morbidity and mortality in long-term controlled outcome trials. The cost of antihypertensive therapy with thiazide diuretics is the lowest and their cost-effectiveness is the greatest among other classes of antihypertensive agents even under reasonable assumptions of increased effectiveness for alternative drugs. Low doses of thiazide diuretics should be recommended because they produce similar brood pressure lowering effects with fewer biochemical changes and adverse reactions.