Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Columbia, Heart Disease, JAMA / 17.02.2020
Hypertension Treatments with Chlorthalidone vs HCTZ: Cardiac and Safety Outcomes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
George Hripcsak, MD, MS
Vivian Beaumont Allen Professor of Biomedical Informatics
Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics
Columbia University
Director, Medical Informatics Services
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Diuretics are considered among the best drugs to treat hypertension, but there are no randomized studies to tell us which diuretic is best. Hydrochlorothiazide is the most frequently used diuretic for hypertension, but another drug, chlorthalidone, is gaining favor, with the most recent US hypertension guideline expressing a preference for it. Chlorthalidone is known to be longer acting and therefore perhaps more effective. Other (non-randomized) studies have been inconsistent, and some of them imply that chlorthalidone may be more effective. But other studies have shown that chlorthalidone may have more side effects.
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