According to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) published September 13, 2018 in the journal Hypertension, resistant hypertension affects 12-15% of patients treated for high blood pressure. Patients are diagnosed with resistant HT when they need three or more medications to treat high BP but their BP still exceeds the goal. Patients who achieve target BP values with four or more medications are also considered to have resistant HT.