PEDIATRICS Vol. 95 No. 3 March 1995, pp. 408
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DOCTORS DENOUNCE US GUIDELINES ON DRUGS TO TREAT HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

J. F. L. MD

A group of blood pressure experts launched an effort to overturn US guidelines on which drugs doctors should use to treat high blood pressure.

The seven experts attacked the recommendations of a National Institutes of Health advisory panel that doctors should first try treating patients with either a diuretic drug, which rids blood of excess water, or a so-called beta-blocker, which cuts the heart's pumping pressure.

The experts charged the recommendations theaten to hamstring doctors in their choice of drugs for high blood pressure patients, discouraging particularly the use of newer classes of drugs called ACE inhibitors and calcium-channel blockers. These drugs may work better and with fewer side effects and doctors should feel free to tailor their choice of drugs to each patient, they argued.

Four of the seven experts attacked the guidelines at a news conference in Dallas during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. The news conference, which wasn't part of the meeting, coincided with publication of the October issue of the American Journal of Hypertension, edited by Dr. John H. Laragh, head of the cardiovascular center at New York Hospital. The Journal carries articles and editorials denouncing the guidelines.