Large new study links some blood pressure drugs to heart disease

[Nothing Without Hope]

This one is important -- read the entire article (and perhaps even the original journal article) if you take blood pressure medication of the type discussed --a calcium channel blocker-- or have a friend or relative who does.

Report from By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY - Study article published in The Journal of the American Medical Association

(snip)

Calcium channel blockers are a backup treatment that lowers blood pressure by relaxing blood vessel walls. Among the best known are Cardizem, Norvasc and Procardia. Previous studies, including ALLHAT, found that the drugs can contribute to heart failure, but they did not increase death rates.

The new study indicates calcium channel blockers may indeed double the risk of dying of heart disease, especially when paired with diuretics, which reduce the amount of fluid in the blood. Although the study involved women, the authors believe the findings also apply to men.

"This raises serious questions about using calcium channel blockers in patients with uncomplicated high blood pressure," says lead author Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. "If I were on that combination, I would want to know, 'Why this one?' "

(snip)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&e=4&u=/usatoday/studylinksbloodpressuredrugstoheartdisease

[bmbmd]

1. The ALLHAT Study

if I remember properly, used only amlodipine. Safety was comparable to diuretics, efficacy was terrific. This study, from Einstein, uses dihydropyridines as well as non-dihydropiridines. We have known for years that dihydropyridines like nifedipine were possible culprits in the induction of coronary events, and one needs to consider what type of CCB is being prescribed for uncomplicated hypertension. The take home lesson is that diuretics are back in favor-cheap, safe, and effective. Most patients will require more than one drug.

[BiggJawn]

2. Crap!

I told my doctor a LONG time ago that given the choice between impotence and a stroke, I'll take my chances with the stroke, thank you...I don't do Thiazide, and I don't do Beta-blockers. I do pretty well on Verapamil, a CCB.

Immature? Probably. But hey, that's the beauty of being a free sovereign citizen (at least for a little while longer) ain't it?