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Diuretics Most Effective Blood Pressure Medication for People with Metabolic Syndrome
Brief Description:
New results from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial, known as ALLHAT, show that diuretics are the most effective blood pressure medication for people with metabolic syndrome.
Transcript:
Akinso: New results from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial, known as ALLHAT, show that diuretics are the most effective blood pressure medication for people with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors frequently linked to overweight and obesity that increase the chance for heart disease and related health problems. Diuretics offer greater protection against cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, and stroke and are at least as effective for lowering blood pressure as newer, more expensive medications. Dr. Paula Einhorn, program director for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Division of Prevention and Population Sciences, says these findings are important for patients with metabolic syndrome.
Einhorn They showed that for both men and women, black and non-black, the diuretic-based treatment was more protective against heart failure and overall cardiovascular disease than the ACE-inhibitors and the alpha-blocker-based treatments. The diuretic-based treatment was also more protective against heart failure than the treatment initiated with the calcium-channel blocker.
Akinso: In addition the results provide important new evidence supporting the use of diuretics for initial blood pressure-lowering therapy in black patients with metabolic syndrome.
Einhorn These results provide particularly important evidence for black patients with metabolic syndrome. When compared with those taking the diuretic, black participants receiving the ACE-inhibitor had poorer blood pressure control and a 24 percent greater risk of overall cardiovascular disease. This included a 37 percent greater risk of stroke and a 49 percent greater risk of heart failure. They also had a 70 percent greater risk of kidney failure.
Akinso: Dr. Einhorn says medications to treat hypertension should always be combined with lifestyle approaches to lowering blood pressure. She adds that patients should discuss these study results and their treatment with their doctors before making any changes. ALLHAT was sponsored by the NHLBI. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland.
About This Audio Report
Date: 3/7/2008
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Paula Einhorn
Topic: Diuretics, Metabolic Syndrome
Institute(s):
NHLBI
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