Response to Dr Moser's Commentary

Abstract

I believe the pressure to treat hypertension needs to be lessened, and the arguments provided by Moser do not subvert those which I¹ and others^2,3 have advanced in favor of a less aggressive approach. His defense of the overall Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) study data seems sound, since the failure to show a significant difference in mortality between the special intervention (SI) and usual care (UC) groups almost certainly reflects the high degree of care given the UC group. According to Moser, these data "clearly support the concept that risk factor reduction decreases the incidence of coronary heart disease."