Hypertension in special populations: chronic kidney disease, organ transplant recipients, pregnancy, autonomic dysfunction, racial and ethnic populations

Abstract

The benefits of appropriate blood pressure (BP) control include reductions in proteinuria and possibly a slowing of the progressive loss of kidney function. Overall, medication therapy to lower BP during pregnancy should be used mainly for maternal safety because of the lack of data to support an improvement in fetal outcome. The major goal of hypertension treatment in those with baroreceptor dysfunction is to avoid the precipitous, severe BP elevations that characteristically occur during emotional stimulation. The treatment of hypertension in African Americans optimally consists of comprehensive lifestyle modifications along with pharmacologic treatments, most often with combination, not single-drug, therapy.