A recent study from Columbia University is making waves in the world of medicine, especially concerning high blood pressure treatment. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a common condition that can lead to serious health issues like heart attacks and strokes.
The most widely used first-line treatment for this condition has been ACE inhibitors, but this new study suggests that there might be a better option.
For high blood pressure, doctors have five main classes of medications to choose from: thiazide diuretics, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, and non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers.
However, choosing the best one to start with has been a challenge due to a lack of concrete evidence. As a result, many medical guidelines rely more on expert opinion than on hard data.
The Columbia University team decided to dig into this issue. They analyzed health records and insurance claims from almost 5 million patients who started treatment for high blood pressure. Their findings were quite revealing.
While ACE inhibitors were the most commonly prescribed initial treatment (given to 48% of patients), thiazide diuretics, used by only 17% as a first treatment, actually showed better results. Patients starting with thiazide diuretics experienced 15% fewer major cardiovascular events like heart attacks, heart failure, and strokes than those who started with ACE inhibitors.
But that’s not all. The side effects told a similar story. Patients who began their treatment with ACE inhibitors reported more side effects – 19 different types, to be exact – compared to those who started with thiazide diuretics.
Interestingly, if the patients who initially took ACE inhibitors had started with a thiazide diuretic instead, the researchers estimate that about 3,100 major heart disease events could have been avoided.
Published in The Lancet, this study by George Hripcsak and his team is a significant step in understanding how to treat high blood pressure more effectively.
It challenges the current preference for ACE inhibitors and highlights the potential benefits of starting treatment with thiazide diuretics instead.
This research could influence future guidelines and treatment strategies, aiming for better patient outcomes with fewer side effects.
For anyone dealing with high blood pressure, this study offers valuable insights into how this common condition might be more effectively managed.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about unhealthy habits that may increase high blood pressure risk, and drinking green tea could help lower blood pressure.
For more information about high blood pressure, please see recent studies about what to eat or to avoid for high blood pressure, and 12 foods that lower blood pressure.
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