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● Obese patients should reduce weight to a BMI of 25 and inactive ones should commence regular physical activities such as running, cycling, swimming, or walking; smokers should quit and alcohol users restrict the amount to <20 g/d for women and <30 g/d for men. Dietary changes should involve reduction of meat consumption in favor of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods as well as restricting salt consumption to 5 g/d.
● Smoking cessation reduces the cardiovascular risk via blood pressure-independent mechanisms. All other "life-style changes" reduce blood pressure and - if implemented and adhered to - could obviate or at least reduce the use of antihypertensives in a majority of patients. Therefore they are tried without drugs in the first months or weeks in newly diagnosed patients with low or moderate cardiovascular risk, respectively. But patients should be regularly encouraged to implement blood pressure-lowering life-style changes even if they turn out to require pharmacotherapy!
≣ Section 5.1