2.4.2.2 Ini­tial Num­ber of Antihy­per­ten­sive Med­i­ca­tions.

Ini­tial treat­ment for peo­ple with di­a­betes de­pends on the sever­i­ty of hy­per­ten­sion (Fig. 10.1). Those with blood pres­sure be­tween 140/90 mmHg and 159/99 mmHg may begin with a sin­gle drug. For pa­tients with blood pres­sure ≥160/100 mmHg, ini­tial phar­ma­co­log­ic treat­ment with two an­ti­hy­per­ten­sive med­i­ca­tions is rec­om­mend­ed in order to more ef­fec­tively achieve ad­e­quate blood pres­sure con­trol (48-50). Sin­gle-‍pill an­ti­hy­per­ten­sive com­bi­na­tions may im­prove med­i­ca­tion ad­her­ence in some pa­tients (51).