Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSCochrane review recommends low-dose thiazides for elevated blood pressure
Low-dose thiazides should be the first choice of drug in patients with elevated blood pressure
This is the conclusion of a Cochrane review that looked at the effectiveness of antihypertensive drugs used as first line treatment. Drug classes included in the review were thiazides, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, alpha-blockers, and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB).
The authors identified that first-line low-dose thiazides reduce mortality and morbidity (stroke, heart attack and heart failure) and patients experienced improved health outcomes compared with the other drug groups.
Wright JM, Musini VM. First-line drugs for hypertension. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD001841. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001841.pub2.
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