The hypertension shell game Twenty-five years ago, doctors were all excited about a new class of drugs for treating high blood pressure. Beta-blockers had failed them, so they needed a new miracle. They got it in the form of calcium channel blockers (CCBs), which were an instant hit. Now, nine studies have shown that the miracle CCBs don't work any better than the older, less expensive drugs. CCBs were no match for the older drugs (diuretics, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers) when it came to reducing cardiovascular events. Compared to patients taking the old drugs, those taking CCBs were about 26 percent more likely to have a heart attack and 25 percent more likely to experience congestive heart failure than those patients on the older and cheaper drugs. As one researcher put it, the lack of cardiac benefits among CCB users suggests that lowering blood pressure alone is not enough to prevent heart attacks and other complications. As I've said before, lowering blood pressure with drugs is a dangerous and irrational business. After 75 years of drug therapy for hypertension, we STILL don't know the cause of the disease, or even what the disease is. So another old doctor's tale, "controlling blood pressure prevents heart disease," goes into the historical trash bag. However, if you are currently taking a CCB, don't abruptly stop taking it, work with your doctor. The drug thinks it owns your body, and sudden cessation will make for a nasty business. It can be deadly. Itching to tell you the truth,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD | 
