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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Study targets use of diuretics

Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. – Diuretics, pills used by elderly people to lower high blood pressure, clearly reduce the long-term risk of death from heart attacks and strokes, according to a study that could ease fears that the medication’s risks outweigh its benefits.

Diuretics, which work by removing fluid from the body, have been used for decades. But doctors have realized that the drugs raise the risk of developing diabetes, which itself can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

As a result, some doctors were afraid that diuretics’ risks would cancel out their benefits.

The first long-term study to examine the question found that while diuretics do raise the risk of diabetes, the rate of death from heart attacks or strokes was still nearly 15 percent lower in patients getting a diuretic compared to those who were given dummy pills.

“This is the most conclusive information we’re likely to have, at least for some time,” said Dr. Jeffrey Cutler, scientific adviser at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a sponsor of the study. “I think this will further reassure physicians.”

National guidelines list diuretics as a first-line treatment for high blood pressure. Nevertheless, some doctors have avoided prescribing diuretics since research linked them to diabetes.

The new study, published in the January issue of the American Journal of Cardiology, was partly funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of Plainsboro, N.J.

It was led by Dr. John Kostis, director of the Cardiovascular Institute at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J.