This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Should -Blockers Be Used to Treat Hypertension in Elderly Patients?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Readers of the recent Contempo article on the treatment of hypertension¹ may be misled by the statement that the latest Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC VI) recommendations² no longer recommend -blockers for older people. In fact, the recommendations of the committee say the opposite: "Thiazide diuretics or -blockers in combination with thiazide diuretics are recommended because they are effective in reducing mortality and morbidity in older persons. . . "² The recommendations outline a possible advantage of diuretics over -blockers but do not remove -blockers from their recommendations. Especially in light of recent recommendations regarding the expanded use of -blockers in the treatment of heart failure and the emphasis on use following myocardial infarction, this class of drugs remains a viable option for the treatment of hypertension in older people.

Allen F. Shaughnessy, PharmD, BCPS
Harrisburg Family Practice . . . [Full Text of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Advances in the Treatment of Hypertension
Thomas G. Pickering
JAMA. 1999;281(2):114-116.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT