Practical aspects of treatment discontinuation and adherence.

Hypertension control in populations, although improving, remains far from satisfactory, even though effective and inexpensive therapies are available. Among many factors responsible for this situation, poor adherence to treatment appears to be particularly important. Unfortunately, even if its causes have been quite well defined, this problem is still far from being solved in clinical practice. The present paper discusses the key issues related to treatment adherence, and discontinuation in hypertension, in the light of recent evidence coming from the ONgoing Telmisartan Alone and in combination with Ramipril Global Endpoint Trial (ONTARGET) and Telmisartan Randomized AssessmeNt Study in ACE iNtolerant subjects with cardiovascular Disease trial (TRANSCEND).