high blood pressure 11

The mixture of drospirenone (a progestin with antialdosterone effects) and 17-[beta]-estradiol ashormone therapy for hypertensive postmenopausal women not just reduces their hot flashes, butlowers their blood pressure levels as well, according to a poster presented at the annual meetingfrom the Usa College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Treatment with the blend of drospirenone and 17-[beta]-estradiol to have an 8-week period producedsignificant reductions in systolic and diastolic 24-hour ambulatory and clinic blood pressure levels at2- and three-mg doses of drospirenone, reported Dr. William B. White, professor of medicine withthe University of Connecticut, Farmington.

Drospirenone plus estradiol has been utilized for the treating of menopausal symptoms and is Foodand Drug Administration-approved just for this indication in a dose of .5 mg drospirenone/1 mgestradiol (marketed in america as Angeliq by Berlex Laboratories Inc.). During its development, itwas noted that in a higher drospirenone dose, the mixture also had antihypertensive properties. It isactually being utilized inAsia and Europe, and the other world at the dose of 2 mg drospirenone/1mg estradiol, Dr. White told this news organization.

In the multicenter (42 United states centers and 22 European centers) trial, Dr. White with hisfantastic colleagues evaluated the blood pressure-lowering efficacy of varied doses of drospirenone 2and 1, or 3 mg) along with 1 mg of estradiol in 750 postmenopausal women aged 45-75 years, byhaving an untreated systolic hypertension of 140-179 mm Hg and untreated diastolic blood pressureof 90-109 mm Hg. They also evaluated estradiol alone to elicit data around the effects of estrogen onambulatory hypertension, about which little is known, wrote Dr. White.

Furthermore, because drugs which induce aldosterone blockade have shown to increase serumpotassium, the researchers evaluated the metabolic results of the mixture therapy.

After a single-blind, placebo phase for 3-four weeks to establish baseline blood pressure andlaboratory values, the ladies were randomized to one of many three combination treatment arms, toestradiol alone, or to placebo. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was done atbaseline and at 8 weeks.

Drospirenone with the 2-mg dose reduced clinical systolic and diastolic blood pressures by a mean of12.9 and 1.2 mm Hg, respectively; and by a mean of 13.8 and 8.5 mm Hg, respectively with the 3-mgdose. Drospirenone at the 1-mg dose was less effective, reducing systolic BP from a mean of 9.8 mmHg and diastolic BP by way of a mean of 7. mm Hg. The hypertension-lowering effect of estradiol (-7.6 mm Hg systolic and -5.9 mm Hg diastolic) was similar to that seen with placebo, Dr. Whitewrote.

Themixturewith1mgofdro

spirenone also high blood pressure symptoms had marginal benefits compared to placebo andestradiol alone, he added, though reductions in ambulatory blood pressure showed findings just likeclinic readings.

Modifications in potassium levels were similar in all of the groups: Five patients in all of thedrospirenone groups and five from the placebo group designed a serum potassium below or equal to5.5 mEq/L. The mean maximal change from baseline in drospirenone-treated patients had not beensignificantly different one of the five treatment groups and ranged between .29 mEq/L and .37mEq/L.

Concerning the combination's effect on lipid levels, LDL and total levels of cholesterolhttp://answers.webmd.com/search-results?ques=what%20is%20normal%20blood%20pressure alsowere lowered significantly in women taking estradiol and drospirenone, having a 13.6-mg/dL drop inLDL cholesterol at the 3-mg dose, a 10.4-mg/dL drop in the 2-mg dose, along with a 12.2 drop at the1-mg dose. Triglyceride levels were not affected, Dr. White wrote.

According to drospirenone dose;those seen by using a frequency inexcess of 2% included breastdiscomfort, vaginal bleeding orspotting, and upper respiratoryinfection, according to theresearchers, unwanted effectsvaried.

"This really is a novel progestinwhich actually impacts uponaldosterone and thus carries adose-related lowering of bloodpressure level--specially thesystolic blood pressure--which isassociated to cardiovascular risk. We actually studied a complete spectrum of doses, together withestradiol alone and placebo, so the strength of the research is we actually had these two controlgroups showing that, in fact, it had been the drospirenone that was the most important factor thatlowered the blood pressure. Plus it did that without having significant metabolic consequences," Dr.White said in an interview. Dr. White disclosed which he functions as a consultant for BerlexLaboratories Inc., which markets Angeliq, as well as other pharmaceutical companies.