In studies of QOL in Hypertension, there may not be a background deterioration of QOL, attributable to the disease. Hence, effects on QOL entirely rely on the side-effect profile of the drugs choosen for an asymptomatic condition; Beta-blockers provoke a slight deterioration of QOL in Hypertension (at least in some patients, who feel old and cold. Ace-inhibitors do not have that effect. It was this difference that made the field of QOL explode in the eighties.

Article The enigma of quality of life in patients with heart failure