Can hypertension be prevented? The Danish Hypertension Prevention Project and the Trial of Prevention of Hypertension studies

Essential hypertension, a major health problem worldwide, is a disease generally considered to require life-long treatment. However, evidence suggests that hypertension is caused by specific phenotypic changes caused by the combination of genetic and environmental factors. Thus, in principle, hypertension could be prevented by prevention of these phenotypic changes. Animal data indicate that early treatment that blocks the renin-angiotensin system have long-term effects after treatment withdrawal. Here we report on two human trials that are testing whether early treatment (with the AT₁-antagonist, candesartan) is able to have a persistent effect after stopping treatment: the Danish Hypertension Prevention Project and Trial of Prevention of Hypertension.