Abstract
A major controversy about the safety of calcium channel blockers (CCBs) has arisen since the publication of a case-control study showing that hypertensives who suffered an acute myocardial infarction (MI) were more likely than hypertensives who had not had an MI to be taking one of these (short-acting) agents than other antihypertensive agents. This study was accompanied by a republication of older studies showing that large doses of short-acting nifedipine given to post-MI patients increased their mortality rate. The danger of massive doses of short-acting nifedipine in a post-MI patient is real but irrelevant to current practice. On the other hand, the putative dangers of short-acting CCBs in the treatment of hypertension do not apply to the current use of long-acting CCBs. Therefore the scare over their use is both irrational and unfortunate.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 57-64 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Hypertension Research - Clinical and Experimental |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1996 |
Keywords
- Calcium channel blockers
- Coronary disease
- Hypertension
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Internal Medicine
- Physiology
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine