The updated National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline on the management of primary hypertension in adults (CG127), published in August 2011, has radically changed some of the recommendations on how clinicians in England and Wales should diagnose and treat hypertension.1 Of particular interest is NICE's advice on the use of thiazide-type diuretics – in terms of their place in therapy and choice of drug. The guidance recommends calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) as first-line therapy in most people aged over 55 years, and for black people of African or Caribbean family …