NEW YORK, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) will feature presentations of several late-breaking clinical trials,

Treatment with an ACE inhibitor for lowering high blood pressure showed a significant mortality reduction in patients with a high prevalence of hypertension.

Although observational studies have suggested that losartan, a drug used primarily for the treatment of hypertension, may be associated with an increased risk of death among patients with heart failure compared with other medications in the same class of drugs (angiotensin II receptor blockers [ARBs]), an analysis that included nearly 6,500 patients found that overall, use of losartan was not associated with increased all-cause death or cardiovascular death compared with use of the ARB candesartan.

Despite the fact that nifedipine increases the risk of heart attacks and death, doctors still prescribe this immediate-release blood pressure drug to elderly patients.

According to a Tel Aviv professor of medicine, common over-the-counter medications such as painkillers may be a hidden cause of high blood pressure and hypertension. These drugs may even conflict with current prescriptions, rendering them useless.