Q50: Why is development and manufacturing of new hypertensive drugs very profitable for the pharmaceutical companies ?

Answer: Now a days more people visit doctors for hypertension than for any condition other than the common cold. And no wonder, as the threshold for hypertension has dropped from 160/100 to 140/90 and now, with prehypertension, to 120/80.

More than 50 million Americans are considered hypertensive, meaning blood pressure of 140/90 or higher. Additionally, 45 million U.S. adults are said to have prehypertension — a level of 120-139 (top number) or 80-89 (bottom number).

Many heart-disease experts defend the idea of treating prehypertension, saying people need to be warned about the condition because cardiovascular disease usually gets worse with age and patients can benefit from early warning and drug treatment.

Last month, a panel of the American Society of Hypertension also suggested that people with normal blood pressure but other risk factors — age, weight, smoking, family history — be considered to have hypertension and be treated accordingly.

Nearly half the world’s population is now classified as hypertensive or prehypertensive, including three-quarters of the elderly population and  to treat this predicted amount of patients Pharmaceutical companies need new hypertensive drugs and is very profitable.