Doxazosin in elderly patients with hypertension

Hypertension constitutes a major cardiovascular risk factor of high prevale nce in the elderly, and reducing elevated blood pressure has been shown to be of significant benefit in decreasing the incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease in this patient population. Elderly patients are m ore likely to have comorbid disorders, such as dyslipidaemia, diabetes, ren al disease, atherosclerosis and, for males, benign prostatic hyperplasia (B PH). Therefore, when choosing an antihypertensive agent for elderly patient s, it is particularly important to ensure that treatment does not exacerbat e comorbid conditions and does not interact deleteriously with any concurre nt medication that the patient is taking. The alpha(1)-adrenoceptor antagon ist, doxazosin, has been shown to be an effective, well-tolerated antihyper tensive therapy in elderly male patients and does not exacerbate - and in s ome cases improves - some other common disorders. Doxazosin has been shown to be effective in reducing the symptoms of BPH in elderly patients whose b lood pressure is well controlled by concomitant antihypertensive medication . In addition, improvements in the symptoms of BPH as well as reductions in blood pressure have been observed in elderly men with mild-to-moderate hyp ertension. Doxazosin has been shown to have positive effects on lipid profi les and glycaemic control, which make it an attractive choice of therapy fo r elderly patients with hypertension and diabetes or dyslipidaemia. In addi tion, doxazosin is administered once daily, either in the morning or the ev ening, which may aid compliance, an important consideration in the elderly.