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Targeting the arterial wall, but what is the target?

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 23, pages 1–3 (2009)Cite this article

It is estimated that 25% of the world's adult population has elevated arterial blood pressure (BP) and the rate is increasing.1 Each difference of 20 mm Hg in systolic BP or of 10 mm Hg in diastolic BP is associated with a more than twofold increase in cardiovascular mortality.2 Currently, hypertension is increasingly considered not only as a function of elevated BP, but also as part of a complex syndrome of pathologic changes in the vasculature and target organs, leading to cardiovascular and renal disease.

In September 2008 issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension, Safar et al.3 had elegantly reviewed the data on the effects of pharmacological therapy on vascular wall in hypertension. Should the arterial wall be a target for therapy?

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Department of Medicine, Haemostasis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Unit, City Hospital, Birmingham, UK

    E Shantsila & H S Lim

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  1. E Shantsila
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  2. H S Lim
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Correspondence to H S Lim.

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Shantsila, E., Lim, H. Targeting the arterial wall, but what is the target?. J Hum Hypertens 23, 1–3 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2008.55

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