Patients with hypertension and certain gene variations experienced varying results with some blood pressure medications, suggesting matching a patient’s genotype with certain hypertension medications could result in more favorable outcomes, according to a study in the January 23 issue of JAMA. Approximately 71 million individuals in the United States have one or more types of cardiovascular disease (CVD), of whom at least 65 million have hypertension. Although control of hypertension has been improving in recent years, among those treated, only about two-thirds have their hypertension controlled, according to background information in the article. Seeking ways to reduce CVD illness and death by tailoring treatment to a patient’s particular genotype has been an area of research, but results have yet to yield therapeutic choices for the clinical setting.
