Editorial: Summary of the 2007 European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension

BackgroundThe Task Force for the Management of Arterial Hypertension of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) published their first European-specific guidelines in 2003. The decision to publish their own recommendations recognized that their historical endorsement of the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Society of Hypertension (ISH) guidelines, with some adaptation to the European situation, fell short of addressing the significant differences in economic resources available, and diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations between Europe and the rest of the world. The 2003 ESH/ESC Guidelines have since been revised and updated in light of changes in the field and in the pursuit of good medicine and practice, and have recently been published in their second incarnation in the Journal of Hypertension (ESH/ESC Hypertension Practice Guidelines Committee 2003, 2007)