Blood pressure. Supplement最新文献

Although the blood pressure-lowering action of some long-acting calcium antagonists may last more than 24 h, some patients taking this drug still experience a morning surge, i.e. an early morning increase in blood pressure. We evaluated this morning surge in three hypertensive patients with morning surge after administration of antihypertensive drugs including nifedipine CR. Nifedipine CR is one of the once-a-day formulations of nifedipine, which after administration, results in two peaks in the plasma concentration of nifedipine. The first concentration peak of occurs 3 h after administration and the second around 12 h after intake. When the time of intake of nifedipine CR was changed from after breakfast to immediately after awakening, the morning surge was suppressed in these patients without the use of other drugs such as alpha- or beta-blockers. Administration of nifedipine CR immediately after awakening is one option that can be used to prevent morning surge as well as to control blood pressure throughout the day.

Doxazosin is an effective treatment for patients with hypertension, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and the two comorbidly. In its standard formulation, doxazosin requires a multistep titration regimen to minimize a possible first-dose effect. A new extended-release gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS) formulation of doxazosin was developed to improve the pharmacokinetic profile of the parent compound and to reduce or eliminate the need for dose titration and the potential risk of overdosing. This review presents an analysis of the effect of doxazosin GITS monotherapy on blood pressure (BP) and tolerability, as evaluated in four clinical trials, two conducted in patients with stage 1 to stage 2 hypertension and two in patients with BPH with different levels of BP. Doxazosin GITS was as effective as doxazosin standard and more effective than placebo was in reducing and controlling BP in patients with hypertension. Among normotensive patients with BPH, no clinically significant effect on BP was observed and no episodes of syncope were recorded. Doxazosin GITS was generally better tolerated than doxazosin standard, based on the proportion of patients with adverse events and those withdrawing due to adverse events. Moreover, the GITS formulation eliminated the need for titration in most patients. Doxazosin GITS is an effective and well-tolerated treatment in patients with hypertension and/or BPH and without heart failure or clinical coronary heart disease and has advantages over doxazosin standard in terms of a simpler dosing regimen and improved tolerability.

The main objective of this study was to compare the anti-hypertensive efficacy and safety of nebivolol (5 mg once daily) and lisinopril (20 mg once daily) given for 12 weeks in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. Fourteen centres participated in this randomized, double-blind parallel group study. Sixty-eight patients with uncomplicated mild-to-moderate hypertension were randomized, and sixty-five were eligible for the analysis of efficacy (intention-to-treat). Hypertensive patients were newly diagnosed, or previous antihypertensive therapy was withdrawn at least 1 month before active treatment, and were included in the study if their diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was > 95 and < 114 mmHg. The age range was 24-65 years. The primary endpoints of the study were: (i) response rate: patients were defined as "normalized" responders if their blood pressure values were < 140/90 mmHg, or as "non-normalized" responders if the reduction in blood pressure was 10 mmHg or more, compared with baseline; (ii) changes in sitting blood pressure at the end of the study. The secondary endpoints were: standing blood pressure and sitting or standing heart rate (HR). Results showed that baseline sitting DBP was significantly different between groups. Analysis of covariance of the raw data performed with baseline as covariate demonstrated that the DBP and HR values were significantly lower in the nebivolol group at the 8th week. However, when an analysis of variance for repeated measures was performed, a significant reduction in sitting systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p < 0.0001), DBP (p < 0.0001) and HR (p < 0.0001) was observed throughout the study in both groups. No difference was observed between treatments, although for DBP, a significant interaction between treatment-weeks was observed (p = 0.016). There was also a statistically significant difference in favour of the nebivolol group in the distribution of responders and non-responders at week 8. Lisinopril and nebivolol were equally well tolerated. In conclusion, nebivolol was slightly more effective, in comparison with lisinopril, in terms of reduction in DBP. This greater efficacy was obtained without any increase in adverse effects, since both treatments were equally well tolerated.

Since most developed countries have an ageing population, the prevalence of hypertension is increasing. This age-driven increase in cardiovascular risk is an important factor contributing to the increasing burden of mortality and morbidity associated with cardiovascular disease. Today, there is a strong rationale for an aggressive approach to hypertension since antihypertensive treatment has been shown to reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in the elderly. It is likely that increasing emphasis will be placed on control of isolated and borderline systolic hypertension, which are the predominant forms of hypertension in elderly patients. The recent second Swedish Trial in Old Patients with Hypertension (STOP-Hypertension-2) represents an important contribution to the literature since it shows that newer antihypertensive agents, such as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and calcium antagonists, are as effective as older agents in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in elderly patients.

The 1999 hypertension management guidelines issued by the World Health Organization and the International Society of Hypertension emphasize the importance of blood pressure reduction in the prevention of cardiovascular events. Furthermore, they conclude that the benefits of treatment are due to blood pressure lowering per se, rather than to any specific antihypertensive therapy. The results of the second Swedish Trial in Old Patients with Hypertension (STOP-Hypertension-2) are consistent with these recommendations, since in this trial angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and calcium antagonists reduced blood pressure to the same extent as conventional therapy with beta-blockers and diuretics in elderly hypertensive patients, and the three treatments produced similar reductions in the risk of cardiovascular events. Furthermore, a first subgroup analysis of cardiovascular mortality showed that the three treatments seemed equally effective in diabetic patients. The STOP-Hypertension-2 data, therefore, are fully consistent with the 1999 hypertension management guidelines, and underline the advantages offered by both older and newer antihypertensive therapies.

Epidemiological evidence suggests that reducing blood pressure alone in hypertensive patients delays the onset of cardiovascular events without necessarily preventing the progression of chronic target-organ disease, such as end-stage renal failure and heart failure. Successful clinical management of hypertensive patients will therefore not be possible unless therapies are aimed both at the effective control of blood pressure and at the preservation of target-organ function. The new angiotensin II type I (AT1) receptor blocker candesartan cilexetil has been shown to be effective in reducing target-organ damage in animal models of hypertension, even at doses that do not produce significant reductions in blood pressure. Protective effects of candesartan cilexetil towards the heart and kidney have also been demonstrated in the clinical studies that have been conducted to date. Thus, candesartan cilexetil has been shown to induce regression of left ventricular hypertrophy within 8-12 weeks of treatment and to improve renal haemodynamics, both acutely and after 6 weeks of treatment in hypertensive patients. Furthermore, in hypertensive patients with co-existent non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and microalbuminuria, 12 weeks of treatment with candesartan cilexetil, 8-16 mg, significantly reduced urinary albumin excretion. Clinical evidence is therefore accumulating that the antihypertensive efficacy and tolerability profile already established for candesartan cilexetil is combined with the renal and cardioprotective effects necessary for optimal management of hypertension.

Prognosis can be improved in hypertensive patients not only by reducing blood pressure, but probably also by effective suppression of adverse neurohormonal influences. Inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors effectively reduces left ventricular hypertrophy and decreases morbidity and mortality due to heart failure, as well as slowing the progression of renal disease. Initial data from studies of angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor blockers indicate that these agents should also be effective in reducing cardiac and renal damage. In this class, candesartan, by virtue of its tight and long-lasting binding to the AT1-receptor, provides pronounced 24-h blood pressure control with effective blockade of all the major negative cardiovascular effects of angiotensin II. Candesartan cilexetil has also been shown to be effective and well tolerated in combination with hydrochlorothiazide in those hypertensive patients who require more than one agent to reach their target blood pressure.