Is it the end of the line for this popular class of drugs?
In findings that may well sound the "death knell" for the popular class of drugs known as calcium channel blockers (CCBs), the longer-acting versions of the drugs failed to reduce the risk of heart disease, despite the fact that they were effective in reducing blood pressure.
The study's authors maintain that this makes the drugs inferior to other blood pressure-lowering medications that have been around longer and are a lot cheaper as well.
According to one of the study's authors, Dr. Michael H. Alderman, "There is no difference between CCBs and other drugs in terms of lowering blood pressure."
But lowering blood pressure alone means little if the drugs don't decrease the risk of cardiac problems associated with having high blood pressure.
Researchers analyzed nine clinical trials that included more than 27,000 patients.
Patients treated with CCBs had a 27% increased risk of heart attacks than in patients treated with other blood pressure medications.
Dr. Alderman feels that other drugs given to lower blood pressure may reduce atherosclerosis, thereby lowering blood pressure and simultaneously reduces the incidence of cardiac events such as heart attack.
Among CCB users, the risk of heart failure was 26% higher, and the risk of any major cardiovascular event was 11% above the risk associated with the use of other blood pressure-lowering drugs.
All the calcium channel blockers included in the study yielded similar results, Alderman added.
Although CCBs were introduced within the past decade and are longer lasting than other antihypertensive medications, they are also significantly more expensive, costing up to 15 times more than some diuretics, leading Dr. Alderman to make the observation that "The other drugs are cheaper but vastly superior."
As a result of his findings, Dr. Alderman believes that CCBs may be "a drug of rather last resort," and he recommends that people currently taking CCBs should consult their physicians.
Meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Amsterdam, the Netherlands August, 2000
Previous posts in this newsletter have associated CCBs with actually increasing heart attacks, increased risk of breast cancer, increased suicide risk, and increase GI bleeding.
One calcium channel blocker, Posicor (mibefradil) was actually taken off the market two years ago because it caused life-threatening arrhythmias. In addition, FDA data from a study using the drug for congestive heart failure, showed that more patients treated with Posicor died than those taking a placebo.
Considering the fact that the shorter-acting versions have previously been shown to be dangerous and now the longer-acting versions are being shown to be ineffective and possibly dangerous as well, the future does not look very promising for these expensive drugs.
It is important to remember that the 'end goal' is not really reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose levels, or any other parameter in and of itself. The true goal is a longer, healthier, and happier life. As this report shows, simply lowering blood pressure didn't reduce the death rate and may have actually increased the risk of certain complications, such as heart attacks and heart failure.
In case you are unsure if one of the drugs that you or a loved one is taking is in this class of drugs, here is a list:
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Calcium Channel Blocker Taken Off the Market
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