BLOOD-PRESSURE REDUCTION AND MODIFICATION OF CORONARY RISK-FACTORS UNDER TREATMENT WITH DOXAZOSIN

In an open, non-comparative, multicenter trial performed by general pr actitioners, the efficacy and safety of doxazosin, an inhibitor of pos tsynaptic alpha1-adrenoceptors, were studied in 924 patients with mild to moderate hypertension. Under treatment with doxazosin both systoli c and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly from 178.4 +/- 18.2/103.1 +/- 8.6 to 149.1 +/- 12.0/85.6 +/- 7.3 mm Hg; the mean dail y dose at the end of the 12 weeks' treatment period was 3.3 +/- 2.6 mg . Heart rate decreased by 5% and body weight by 6%. As compared with b aseline values, total cholesterol (255.7 +/- 45.4 vs 232.7 +/- 37.3 mg %), triglycerides (206.3 +/- 97.6 vs 175.2 +/- 70.9 mg%) and blood glu cose (101.9 +/- 31.0 vs 97.9 +/- 25.5 mg%) decreased significantly, wh ilst HDL-cholesterol (47.7 +/- 13.0 vs 51.5 +/- 12.4 mg%) increased. O verall, doxazosin was very well tolerated; only 16% of all patients re ported adverse drug reactions. The results of this study confirm the e ffectiveness of doxazosin as first-line medication in the treatment of hypertension, especially in patients with concomitant metabolic disor ders such as hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus. Moreover, the patie nts who appear to benefit most from doxazosin treatment are those who show the highest metabolism-related coronary risk, as calculated accor ding to the Framingham Study equation.