ACE Inhibitor as Effective as More Expensive Blood Pre... ( Study focused on more than 17000 peop...)

ACE Inhibitor as Effective as More Expensive Blood Pressure Drug

Date:3/31/2008

Study focused on more than 17,000 people with coronary artery disease or diabetes

MONDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment with an ACE inhibitor drug was as effective in reducing deaths, heart attacks and stroke in a high-risk group of patients as a newer and more expensive angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) drug, a large international study has found.

The study of more than 17,000 people with coronary artery disease or diabetes found no major differences between those treated with the widely used ACE inhibitor ramipril (Altace) and those given the ARB telmisartan (Micardis).

"This is the first study in such a population that shows ACE inhibitors are as effective as ARBs," said study leader Dr. Salim Yusuf, a professor of medicine at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

The finding might reduce the use of ARBs for such high-risk people, he said. "Even before the trial, many physicians have used ACE inhibitors as a first choice," Yusuf said. "I believe it will have an impact on practice."

The findings were to be presented Monday at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Chicago, and will be published in the April 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Both classes of drugs are prescribed to lower blood pressure. But they act in different ways to block the activity of angiotensin, a molecule that narrows blood vessels.

"The main value of ARBs as monotherapy in patients with cardiovascular disease is, in my opinion, as a substitute for an ACE inhibitor in a patient who cannot tolerate the ACE inhibitor because of cough," said Dr. John J.V. McMurray, a professor of medical cardiology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who wrote an editorial accompanying the journal report.

"ACE inhibitors have never been tested in an outcome study in this patient population, and an ACE inhibitor and ARB have never been compared in this pat
'/>"/>

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. NSAIDs: Painkillers, inflammation inhibitors, anti-cancer drugs and new de-methylating agents
2. Late Use of Aromatase Inhibitor Still Effective Against Breast Cancer
3. Effect of tumor necrosis factor a inhibitors on heart failure risk in RA Patients
4. Amira Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline Enter Global Agreement for FLAP Inhibitor Program
5. S*BIOs Oral JAK2 Inhibitor SB1518 Demonstrates Therapeutic Potential for the Treatment of Myeloproliferative and Other Hematological Disorders
6. Silencing small but mighty cancer inhibitors
7. SGX Pharmaceuticals Submits Investigational New Drug Application for SGX523, a Highly Potent, Selective, Orally Bioavailable cMET Inhibitor
8. S*BIO Expands Pipeline With the Development of a Unique Flt3 -CDK Inhibitor as a Targeted Therapy for Acute Leukemias
9. Data Show SuperGens Multi-Targeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Demonstrates Pre-clinical Activity in Glioblastoma Multiforme
10. Impending FDA Approval Decision on the First HIV Integrase Inhibitor Can Have Significant Impact for Patients
11. Guardian Survey: Despite Perceived Effectiveness, Most Employees Who Participate in Wellness Programs Do Not Stay Committed

Post Your Comments:

ACE Inhibitor as Effective as More Expensive Blood Pre...( Study focused on more than 17000 peop...),Health