HEALTHEuropean hypertension study favors newer treatmentsThe findings contradict those of a recent National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute-sponsored study.By Peggy Peck, amednews correspondent. Oct. 10, 2005. Stockholm, Sweden -- On this side of the Atlantic, researchers say evidence suggests that newer, more expensive antihypertensive drug regimens are more effective than older, cheaper drugs, a finding that conflicts with the latest treatment recommendations in the United States. The newer drug combo -- calcium channel blockers plus angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors -- was more effective than diuretics and beta-blockers, investigators from the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial-Blood Pressure Lowering Arm (ASCOT-BPLA) reported last month at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2005. The ASCOT-BPLA results were simultaneously published online by The Lancet. "The combination of the contemporary blood pressure lowering drugs, amlodipine and perindopril, plus effective lowering of cholesterol abolished more than half the risk of strokes and heart attacks -- the most important causes of death in millions of men and women with high blood pressure," said Dr. Bjorn Dahlof, professor of medicine at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden. The ASCOT results contradict findings from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute-sponsored study that found thiazide-type diuretics to be as effective as newer agents. Based on the ALLHAT results, the Seventh Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7) recommended those diuretics as the first choice for managing hypertension, noting that other drugs should be added as needed. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2005 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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The doctors are in the house
The AMA's House of Delegates is holding its Interim Meeting Nov. 7-10 in Houston, addressing issues such as health system reform and physician payment. Meeting coverage - Slideshow Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
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