Chemical blockade of the sympathetic nervous system in essential hypertension; experience with oral therapy with 688-A (N-phenoxy isopropyl-N-benzyl-beta-chloroethylamine hydrochloride)

THE EXACT nature of essential hypertension has not been clearly established, and, as a result, many drugs, diets, and operative procedures have been used in the treatment of this disease. In most instances therapy has either proved more annoying to the patient than the disease itself or produced variable results. The numerous theories regarding the etiological basis of essential hypertension have been summarized repeatedly by many authors,1but at present most observers agree that there are probably both neurogenic and humoral factors that produce and maintain blood pressure in certain persons at a hypertensive level. A great deal of the treatment has been aimed at controlling or eliminating the neurogenic factor, for the exact humoral mechanism that operates in hypertension has still not been clarified. Other drugs have been used because of their direct action upon the vascular system. Therapy with thiocyanate derivatives has been employed for years, and