The FDA has approved a once-daily tablet combining amlodipine drags (Norvasc), a calcium-channel blocker, and olmesartan medoxomil (Benicar), an angiotensin-receptor blocker, for the treatment of hypertension. In clinical trials, Azor produced significant mean reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. When compared with (buy) amlodipine 10 mg alone, Azor 10/40 mg resulted in a 53% greater reduction in systolic blood pressure.
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People with heart disease should take special precautions before undergoing all operations, even noncardiac surgery, to reduce their risk of a cardiac event, according to new joint guidelines issued by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb have announced the approval of a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for a 300mg tablet of clopidogrel bisulfate (Generic Plavix) for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients as soon as possible after hospital admission. Currently available as a 75-mg tablet taken once a day, generic clopidogrel helps to prevent platelets from sticking together and forming clots. It was initially approved in 1997.
Treating patients with beta blockers for hypertension may heighten their risk of diabetes, say researchers from New York and Israel. Findings from their analysis of 12 studies involving 94,492 patients suggest that beta-blocker therapy leads to a 22% higher risk.
Atenolol drug and generic metoprolol raised the risk by as much as 34%, compared with other agents. The studies evaluating (buy) propranolol (Inderal drug, Wyeth), by contrast, showed a trend toward lowering the risk by 23%, although the studies were heavily weighted by comparison with diuretics, the researchers add.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered five genetic variants related to blood pressure (BP) in African-Americans. This genome-wide association study may provide new clues to treating and preventing hypertension in this population.
Antibiotic resistance is making it more difficult to treat common urinary tract infections (UTIs). Resistance to betalactam antibiotics prompted a switch to trimethoprim drug/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/ SMX, Bactrim); however, this agent was also susceptible to resistance, and fluoroquinolones became the new first-line choice.
The FDA has approved prasugrel (Effient, Eli Lilly/Daiichi Sankyo) to lower the risk of blood clots from forming in patients who undergo angioplasty to unblock a clogged coronary artery. If blood platelets clump around the procedure site, clots can form and can lead to heart attack, stroke, and death.
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