Online Resource for Treatment-Resistant Hypertension Launched for Health Care Providers

August 22, 2012—The steering committee of Power Over Pressure, a global campaign to advance the diagnosis and management of treatment-resistant hypertension, announced the launch of its online resource, PowerOverPressure.com. The website is designed to help health care professionals develop solutions for treatment-resistant hypertension.

This free resource was developed by global hypertension experts and is endorsed by the American Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Hypertension. It is supported by Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN). The Power Over Pressure steering committee Co-Chairs are Suzanne Oparil, MD, who is Director of the vascular biology and hypertension program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Roland Schmieder, MD, who is Head of the Clinical Research Center on Hypertension and Vascular Medicine at the University Hospital Erlangen in Germany.

According to the Power Over Pressure statement, the website provides access to a systematic, step-wise approach to evaluate, diagnose, and manage treatment-resistant hypertension. This approach can be used to help confirm the diagnosis of treatment-resistant hypertension, as well as identify areas for hypertension treatment optimization. The approach focuses on confirming the accuracy of blood pressure measurement, optimizing pharmacotherapy and adherence, addressing lifestyle barriers to blood pressure control, and consideration of referral to a specialist.

The committee noted in its announcement that the management of treatment-resistant hypertension patients often requires a multidisciplinary approach. The online resource was designed to help establish community support among physicians and patients through downloadable tools and materials including a primer that highlights key educational topics in treatment-resistant hypertension, such as the magnitude of the problem, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and current and emerging management approaches. It also provides educational resources to foster peer-to-peer best practice sharing.


In the press release, Dr. Oparil commented, “Despite focused efforts and the introduction of multiple new therapies, the percentage of hypertension patients resistant to treatment has increased by 62% in the last 20 years—making it critical for physicians across all disciplines who care for these patients to work together to improve patient outcomes. PowerOverPressure.com was designed to be the one-stop comprehensive digital location for everything related to treatment-resistant hypertension, including educational guides, slide sets, and other valuable tools to help physicians more quickly identify people with treatment-resistant hypertension and optimize their care plans through current and emerging treatment approaches.” 

Dr. Schmieder added, “While some patients who suffer from presumed treatment-resistant hypertension might achieve blood pressure control with an antihypertensive drug regimen, some particularly difficult-to-treat cases may remain uncontrolled despite maximal drug therapy. It can be an extremely frustrating and expensive condition to manage for both physicians and patients. It is our goal that PowerOverPressure.com becomes the premier resource for supporting best practices to improve diagnosis accuracy and actively treat this growing, high-risk patient population.”