Managing blood pressure control in Asian patients: safety and efficacy of losartan.

Hypertension is common in Asian populations and is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of hypertension is increasing in many Asian countries. The overall prevalence of hypertension in India and the People's Republic of China has been estimated to be 20.6% in men and 22.6% in women. However, the rates of detection, treatment, and control of hypertension remain low in Asia. This reflects a low level of literacy and education, as well as a low level of access to medical care. To overcome these obstacles, strategies targeted at education, promotion, and optimization of medical care, are crucial to achieve target blood pressure control. Angiotensin receptor blockers are one of the first-line treatments for essential hypertension because they confer better cardiovascular outcomes. Losartan has been widely evaluated for the management of hypertension. Although some studies suggested that the blood pressure-lowering effect of losartan is perhaps lower than for other angiotensin receptor blockers, losartan has been demonstrated to be beneficial in terms of renal protection in patients with diabetes, heart failure resulting from either systolic or diastolic dysfunction, and diuretic-induced hyperuricemia. However, most of these data were obtained from Caucasian populations. The efficacy and safety of losartan in Asian populations may be different because of genetic and ethnic variations. Therefore, the efficacy and safety of losartan in Asian patients with hypertension warrant further study.