CardioExchange Archive

September 10th, 2014

FDA Advisory Panel Offers Cautious Support for Polypill

Larry Husten, PHD

The controversial polypill took one step closer to reaching the U.S. market after receiving a mostly positive reception from the FDA’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee on Wednesday. The idea for the polypill– which in this case would be composed of aspirin, a statin, and one or more blood pressure drugs– has been kicking around for […]

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August 5th, 2013

Deja Vu All Over Again: Study Links Calcium-Channel Blockers to Breast Cancer

Larry Husten, PHD

A new observational study raises the possibility that calcium-channel blockers (CCBs) may be associated with a higher risk for breast cancer. Although previous studies examining this relationship have failed to turn up convincing evidence of a link, the authors of a paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine state that their study is the first to look at […]

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April 22nd, 2013

The FDA, Surrogate Endpoints, and Blood Pressure Drugs

Larry Husten, PHD

In recent years the FDA has come under increasing fire for approving drugs on the basis of surrogate endpoints without any evidence of greater clinical benefit. The most famous example of this is the diabetes drug rosiglitazone. Despite strong evidence demonstrating that it was effective at lower blood glucose levels — the surrogate endpoint — serious questions […]

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December 7th, 2012

Should Body Weight Influence Choice of Antihypertensive Therapy?

Larry Husten, PHD

The hypertension field has been troubled by repeated observations that normal weight patients have more cardiovascular (CV) events than obese patients. Now a new analysis of a large hypertension trial confirms this finding but also suggests that it may be explained by either an adverse effect of diuretics or a protective effect of calcium-channel blockers in non-obese hypertensives. […]

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September 10th, 2012

Antihypertensive Use Among Pregnant Women on the Rise

Larry Husten, PHD

Growing numbers of pregnant women are taking antihypertensive drugs that may harm themselves or their babies, according to a new study published in Hypertension. Brian Bateman and colleagues analyzed Medicaid data on more than 1.1 million pregnant women from 2000 to 2007. Overall, 4.4% of the women received antihypertensive medications at some point during their pregnancy. During […]

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October 19th, 2011

First-Trimester Hypertension, Not ACE Inhibitors, Linked to Birth Defects

Larry Husten, PHD

Although the teratogenic properties of ACE inhibitors in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy are well-documented, the effects of their use in the first trimester have been unclear. Now a study suggests that hypertension itself, rather than ACE inhibitors or other antihypertensive drugs, is the likely cause of an increased risk for birth defects […]

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February 25th, 2011

FDA Approves Azilsartan Medoxomil (Edarbi) for High Blood Pressure

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA has approved azilsartan medoxomil (Edarbi, Takeda) for the treatment of high blood pressure. The new angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) will be available in 80 mg and 40 mg doses. The recommended dose is 80 mg once daily. The 40 mg dose is used in combination with a diuretic. The FDA said that, in clinical studies, […]

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January 25th, 2011

New Study Finds Hydrochlorothiazide Inferior To All Other BP Drugs

Larry Husten, PHD

At the dosages most often used, hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), the most widely used antihypertensive agent in the world, is “consistently inferior” to all other drugs, according to a new meta-analysis published in JACC. Franz Messerli and colleagues performed a systematic review of studies that compared HCTZ to other drugs using 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and found […]

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