Abstract
The initial treatment for hypertension has changed as drugs with pharmacologic properties permitting single-drug therapy have become available. In their 1988 report, the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure
1
considered the selection of initial treatment on the basis of demographic characteristics.
Previous cooperative studies by the Department of Veterans Affairs have supported the recommendations of the Joint National Committee, such as proposing that beta-blockers be considered equal to thiazide diuretics in the initial antihypertensive therapy of white patients
2
,
3
and recommending the use of captopril as initial single-drug therapy
4
,
5
. We and others . . .
