Mar 18, 2008 6:07 pm US/Eastern
New Beta Blocker May Help With High Blood Pressure
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
The Food and Drug Administration is providing a new option for the one in three adults in the U.S. with high blood pressure.
Healthwatch reporter Kellye Lynn says the medication reduces pressure with fewer side effects.
High blood pressure is known as the silent killer because it often strikes without warning and can raise a person's risk for stroke, heart failure and heart attack. Now patients can benefit from a newly approved beta blocker that was studied right here in Baltimore.
With a family history of blood pressure, Barbara Miller was not surprised when she got the same diagnosis 20 years ago.
"My symptoms were headaches and I could feel every pulse in my body. That's how I knew my pressure was up," she said.
To bring it down, she tried at least 10 medications, including beta blockers, drugs that reduce pressure by reducing the force within which the heart pumps blood.
"It was one of the first drugs I went on, a beta blocker, and it did not control my pressure, so it's pretty exciting there's one that will work," she said.
Dr. Elijah Saunders of the University of Maryland Medical Center was one of the investigators in a national study of Bystolic, also known as Nebivolol. His research, involving 300 people, found the drug was particularly effective in African-Americans.
"We were able to get 60% of patients to goal blood pressure," Saunders said.
He says patients who take Bystolic also tolerate it better than other beta blockers.
Headache, fatigue and sexual dysfunction are common complaints among patients who take beta blockers, but not for those who took Bystolic.
Although it took Barbara several years, she finally has found the right mix of medication and lifestyle changes to keep her pressure down.
"I really have to cut salt, get the exercise and continue medications. It took a while for us to get the regimen that really worked for me but now I'm fairly well controlled," she said.
The FDA also recently approved another blood pressure drug called Tekturna. That medication helps patients who haven't been able to reduce their blood pressure with a single drug. Dizziness, flu-like symptoms and fatigue are some of the side effects associated with Tekturna.
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