This chapter reviews the currently available classes of drugs used in the treatment of
hypertension. To best appreciate the complexity of selecting an antihypertensive agent, an understanding of the pathophysiology of hypertension and the pharmacology of the various
drug classes used to treat it is required. A thorough understanding of these mechanisms is necessary to appreciate more fully the workings of specific antihypertensive agents. Among the factors that modulate high blood pressure, there is considerable overlap. The drug treatment of hypertension takes advantage of these integrated mechanisms
to alter favorably the hemodynamic pattern associated with high
blood pressure.
