Blood Pressure Combo Could Be Dangerous

Older women who combine two popular blood pressure drugs might be raising their risk of death, according to a study of more than 30,000 women. But doctors warned the research has flaws and said it is too soon to know whether the commonly prescribed duo really is dangerous. In the study, women who combined diuretics with calcium channel blockers — among the most frequently prescribed drugs for high blood pressure_ had nearly twice as many fatal heart attacks and other cardiovascular deaths as women on diuretics plus beta blockers or ACE inhibitors. Still, the number of heart-related deaths was relatively small: 31 out of 1,223 women taking the calcium channel blocker combination versus 18 out of 1,380 on the beta blocker combination and 17 out of 1,413 on the ACE inhibitor duo. Patients frequently need to take more than one drug to keep blood pressure down.