Scientists reported last December that an inexpensive drug for hypertension, a diuretic, prevents heart failure and stroke better than newer, more costly blood pressure medicines do (SN: 1/18/03, p. 45: Available to subscribers at Cheap hypertension drug works best). The findings prompted doctors to rethink treatments for some patients.
Not so fast. Researchers in Australia now report that one of the more costly drugs–a so-called angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor–prevents heart attacks and other heart problems better than a diuretic does.
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