Cardura® Increases the Risk of Heart Failure
by Clark Hansen, N.M.D.

March 8, 2000 – A new study, called the Antihypertensive and Lipid Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), showed that users of Cardura® (doxazosin) had 25 percent more cardiovascular events and were twice as likely to be hospitalized for heart failure than patients on diuretics, a more traditional, and cheaper treatment.

Approximately 50 million Americans have hypertension, or high blood pressure. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), of the 24 million Americans who take medication to treat their hypertension, about one million use an alpha blocker, like Cardura®, Hytrin (terazosin) and Minipress (prazosin). Although the study examined the effects of only Cardura®, the increased risk of congestive heart failure is expected to be the same for Hytrin and Minipress.

Alpha blockers inhibit the tension or resistance in blood vessel walls. They are also used to treat patients with benign prostate enlargement, sexual dysfunction and diabetes. These individuals may also be at increased risk of developing heart failure while taking an alpha blocker.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) recommends that physicians reassess use of alpha-adrenergic blockers for the treatment of hypertension. Heart specialists say that patients should consult their doctors and consider using other blood pressure drugs like diruetics, calcium antagonists, beta-blockers or ACE inhibitors.

Shawna Vogel, reporting for ABCNews.com summarized the findings this way, "today’s announcement is a strong reminder that these medications need to be measured not on whether they simply lower blood pressure, but on what really matters: Protecting patients from heart failure and stroke."

Editor’s Note: Kudos to Shawna Vogel! Her conclusion shows that you don’t have to be a physician to be smart enough to figure out the moral to the story. We have a glut of pharmaceutical drugs that only treat the symptoms of disease and never even address the underlying cause or cure of the disease. Blood pressure medications are the perfect example. They treat the symptom – hypertension – rather than the cause -- hardening of the arteries.