Hypertension management in the COVID-19 era. Getaway from pandemic snares

Abstract

On the verge of the second decade of our millennium, controlled hypertension was estimated at the range of approximately 30% to 50% among those European middle-age and older patients who were already treated. Experts agree that non-adherence to pharmacotherapy and physician-related clinical inertia are the utmost challenge in hypertension management. Although treatment with blood pressure lowering drugs with single pill combination (SPC) offers effective solution to that challenge, share of patients using SPC formulation is way under expectations. Few months of COVID-19 pandemic and repetitive lock-downs negatively impacted health condition of the whole societies. Experts report that overall cardiovascular risk profile of majority of patients worsened essentially over the course of several months of pandemic. Aggravated cardiovascular risk factors which clustered with uncontrolled hypertension calls for immediate action. Robust advocacy for wide use of SPC formulation composed of long-acting blood pressure lowering agents appears to be effective and timely getaway from this snare.