What is the recommended treatment combination by patient type?

The guidelines issued by the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC VII) and the European Society of Cardiology/European Society of Hypertension (ESC/ESH) have allowed for a standard course of treatment for American or European hypertensives, respectively. In Asia, some countries like Japan or China have their own country guidelines, some countries decidedly adopt the JNC VII or ESC/ESH guidelines while some countries may not even have clear guidelines at all. While available country guidelines as well as data from clinical trials indicate that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) plus calcium channel blockers are the effective treatment combination for Asians, experts suggest that basically, treatment decisions should be evidence based and drug combinations should present the least side effects.