Newer drugs better than standard treatments for high blood pressure

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A comparison shows that newer drugs prevent more cardiovascular events than the standard medications do.
There are many treatments for high blood pressure. If blood pressure is under control then the risk of heart attack and stroke is reduced. In a study, researchers from Sweden have looked into how newer drugs such as amlodipine and perindopril compare with atenolol and thiazide, which have been around for a lot longer.

They looked at over 19,000 patients and found that those on the amlodipine-based regime had better control of blood pressure compared to those on the atenolol-based regime. They also had fewer cardiovascular events like heart attacks. This is information that doctors should take on board when prescribing for high blood pressure. Of course, it needs to be taken into account that these were considered high risk patients.

Source
The Lancet online 4th September 2005