1956

Development of thiazide diuretics to lower blood pressure, without side effects of ganglion blocker drugs introduced in 1951. “In hindsight, it is clear that the availability of these therapeutic regimens provided the impetus for the medicalization of blood pressure. Epidemiology has identified more than 140 risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including short stature, baldness, and being married to women in white collar jobs. Yet only a tiny fraction of risk factors has been medicalized so far, one reason being that there are no drugs available to treat the majority of identified risk factors” (Kawachi & Conrad, 30).