Nontraditional combination pharmacotherapy of hypertension.

Traditional drug combinations that have additive hypotensive effect include double therapy with a diuretic and any other antihypertensive agent and triple therapy with a diuretic, direct vasodilator, and either a beta blocker or reserpine. Due to the availability of new classes of antihypertensive agents, other combinations of drugs are now increasingly used. The effectiveness of combination therapy for hypertension has been investigated; the results of these studies are reviewed.