A solid evidence base, stretching back for decades, has established beyond doubt that uncontrolled hypertension brings a crushing burden of myocardial infarctions, strokes and other cardiovascular complications that threaten both the quality and duration of patients’ lives. Conversely, the timely and rigorous application of antihypertensive therapy reduces the risk of these complications, and supports patients in achieving longer, fuller and more productive lives.

We also know that only a fortunate few patients achieve optimal blood pressure with a single antihypertensive agent. Indeed, most people with hypertension require two or more antihypertensive agents to control their blood pressure, as recommended by the guidelines. The increased efficacy of the combination therapy approach is offset by the accompanying increase in the complexity of the regimen, especially as many of these patients will already be taking multiple other medications for multiple other comorbid conditions.

Once-daily, single-tablet combination therapy provides a means of resolving this conundrum, delivering combination treatment in a manner that is no more complex than monotherapy. In this book, we describe the properties of a new, single-tablet combination of bisoprolol (a highly cardioselective β-blocker) and amlodipine (a long-acting, dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker). These agents have been in clinical use individually for decades, and their efficacy and safety profiles are well understood. Given together, their proven efficacy and complementary mechanisms of action suggest an important role in the management of hypertension.

Our book contains nine chapters, each authored by an expert in the field. We describe the epidemiological links between hypertension and adverse outcomes, followed by a detailed description of the pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and clinical properties of bisoprolol and amlodipine in combination. As co-editors of the book, we thank our chapter authors for their important contributions. Above all, we hope you find our book of interest, and useful in your clinical practice.

Dr Zbigniew Gaciong
Department of Internal Medicine, Hypertension and Vascular Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

Dr Ulrike Gottwald-Hostalek
Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany