[Guidelines for therapy of hypertension. One must know them--and apply them on an individual basis].

A target parameter for a cardiovascular risk in patients with hypertension is the lowering of the blood pressure. In 1999, the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and WHO published new recommendations and redefined normal blood pressure values. When deciding the question what antihypertensive treatment for what patient, concomitant risk factors, hypertension related organ damage and contraindications must all be taken into account. The results of large prospective studies apply only in part for the majority of ambulatory patients. For the effective application of these recommendations and guidelines in the doctor's office, considerably more importance must be attached to the cooperation of all their "users"--including family doctors--when they are being established by a specialist society.