From foodconsumer.org
Blood pressure drugs reduce heart risk
By Sue Mueller
Apr 1, 2008 - 10:01:05 AM
TUESDAY April 1, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- Two studies presented Monday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago showed cheap and old blood pressure drugs when used properly can dramatically lower risk of heart attacks, stroke and death, The Associated Press reported.
One study showed amlodipine, a calcium channel blocker, helped more patients against heart events and stroke than a diuretic when they were used along with Benazepril, an ACE inhibitor.
The study paid for by Novartis was conducted by Dr. Nigel Beckett of Imperial College in London and colleagues and published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.
In the study, Beckett and colleagues compared a single daily pill containing a diuretic and the ACE inhibitor benazepril with a daily pill containing benazepril and a calcium channel blocker known as amlodipine in 11,000 people in the United States and Nordic countries.
The participants at the average age of 68 were obese and had diabetes or other health problems in addition to high blood pressure.
A diuretic is any drug that raises the rate of bodily urine excretion. ACE inhibitors dilate blood vessels to lower blood pressure. Calcium channel blockers act on the muscle of the heart and the vessels to decrease blood pressure.
The researchers found people on the ACE-calcium blocker had about 20 percent fewer heart-related problems or stroke than those who received the ACE-diuretic treatment.
In another study of 3,845 people in their 80s in Europe, China and several other countries, Beckett and colleagues tested the diuretic indapamide or dummy pills plus the ACE inhibitor perindopril to lower blood pressure in the participants to 150/80 from 173/91.
The researchers found those on the diuretic had 39 percent fewer fatal strokes and 21 percent fewer deaths from any cause.