Antihypertensive drug utilization in obese patients

Background and Purpose: Obesity and arterial hypertension are epidemic and often seen in combination. In spite of the frequency and the difficulties in treating these patients to goal, there are no recent data on the prescription of antihypertensive drugs in primary care in this patient population. Material and Methods: Therefore, the data of a nationwide observational study from 2004 were evaluated in which more than 70,000 patients with arterial hypertension were investigated. It was documented, which antihypertensive classes are preferred in obese patients, which are the most often used substances and how these are dosed. Results: (1) Antihypertensive pharmacotherapy of obese patients is differentiated in terms of substances used, but less in terms of dosage. (2) Combinations of drugs are more often used to control the blood pressure of these patients and ACE inhibitors and diuretics are most often preferred. Conclusion: These results show that the availability of a number of effective antihypertensive drugs is not sufficient to secure an adequate control of blood pressure. The timely combination of antihypertensive drugs in reduced dose (alpha-blockers, beta-blockers, diuretics, and calcium antagonists) in combination with high doses of agents blocking the renin-angiotensin system (KAS) could improve the efficacy while reducing side effects.