Archive for December 6th, 2008

Medical Update - Drugs for high blood pressure - is new necessarily better?

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

A survey reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine last April showed a significant decline in the use of diuretics and beta blockers to treat hypertension. Instead, the newer, more expensive calcium channel blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are the favored medications. Although the older drugs produce more side effects, the evidence for their life-prolonging benefits is far more substantial.