Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2019; 112(3): 279-280

The Challenges of Controlling Arterial Hypertension in the Elderly

Marcus Vinicius Bolivar Malachias

DOI: 10.5935/abc.20190020

This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Hypertension Prevalence, Treatment and Control in Older Adults in a Brazilian Capital City".

This issue of the “Archives” brings the study “Hypertension Prevalence, Treatment and Control in Older Adults in a Brazilian Capital City”, by Souza ALL et al., disclosing data about this important cardiovascular risk factor in Goiânia, state of Goiás, Brazil, depicting the situation in our coutry. In this mini-editorial, we review the epidemiology of arterial hypertension (AH) in Brazil and worldwide.

AH is the leading preventable cause of premature death. A report by the US Institute of Medicine considers AH as a neglected disease, because it is often overlooked by the population and underestimated by the medical community. Although AH is relatively easy to prevent, simple to diagnose and considerably less expensive to treat, it remains one of the most important causes of death. More than 50% of deaths from coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular accidents in the US occur in individuals with AH.

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