ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We investigated seasonal variation in ambulatory blood pressure control in hypertensive patients on clinic blood pressure-guided antihypertensive treatment. METHODS: The study participants were hypertensive patients enrolled in an 8-week therapeutic study. Antihypertensive treatment was initiated with long-acting dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers amlodipine 5âmg/day or the gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS) formulation of nifedipine 30âmg/day, with the possible up-titration to amlodipine 10âmg/day or nifedipine-GITS 60âmg/day at 4âweeks of follow-up. RESULTS: The proportion of up-titration to higher dosages of antihypertensive drugs at 4âweeks of follow-up was higher in patients who commenced treatment in autumn/winter ( n â=â302) than those who commenced treatment in spring/summer ( n â=â199, 24.5 vs. 12.0%, P â<â0.001). The control rate of clinic blood pressure, however, was lower in autumn/winter than in spring/summer at 4 (56.7 vs. 70.7%, P â=â0.003) and 8âweeks of follow-up (52.5 vs. 74.9%, P â<â0.001). At 8âweeks, patients who commenced treatment in autumn/winter, compared with those who commenced treatment in spring/summer, had a significantly ( P ≤0.03) smaller daytime (mean between-season difference -3.2/-2.8âmmHg) but greater nighttime SBP/DBP reduction (3.6/1.6âmmHg). Accordingly, at 8âweeks, the prevalence of nondippers was significantly ( P â<â0.001) higher in spring/summer than in autumn/winter for both SBP (54.8 vs. 30.0%) and DBP (53.4 vs. 28.8%). CONCLUSION: Clinic blood pressure-guided antihypertensive treatment requires a higher dosage of medication in cold than warm seasons, which may have led to over- and under-treatment of nighttime blood pressure, respectively.
Subject(s)
Antihypertensive Agents , Hypertension , Humans , Nifedipine/therapeutic use , Nifedipine/adverse effects , Seasons , Blood Pressure , Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory , Amlodipine/therapeutic useABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is a proven risk factor of hypertension. In the present analysis, we investigated the use of antihypertensive medications and blood pressure control in male alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers with hypertension (systolic/diastolic blood pressure 160-199/100-119 mm Hg). METHODS: The study participants were patients enrolled in a 12-week therapeutic study and treated with the irbesartan/hydrochlorothiazide combination 150/12.5 mg once daily, with the possible up-titration to 300/12.5 mg/day and 300/25 mg/day at 4 and 8 weeks of follow-up, respectively, for blood pressure control of <140/90 mm Hg or <130/80 mm Hg in patients with diabetes mellitus. Alcohol consumption was classified as non-drinkers and drinkers. RESULTS: The 68 alcohol drinkers and 168 non-drinkers had similar systolic/diastolic blood pressure at baseline (160.8â ±â 12.1/99.8â ±â 8.6 vs. 161.8â ±â 11.0/99.2â ±â 8.6, Pâ ≥â 0.55) and other characteristics except for current smoking (80.9% vs. 47.6%, Pâ <â 0.0001). In patients who completed the 12-week follow-up (nâ =â 215), the use of higher dosages of antihypertensive drugs was similar at 4 weeks of follow-up in drinkers and non-drinkers (10.6% vs. 12.4%, Pâ =â 0.70), but increased to a significantly higher proportion in drinkers than non-drinkers at 12 weeks of follow-up (54.7% vs. 36.6%, Pâ =â 0.01). The control rate of hypertension tended to be lower in alcohol drinkers, compared with non-drinkers, at 4 weeks of follow-up (45.6% vs. 58.9%, Pâ =â 0.06), but became similar at 12 weeks of follow-up (51.5% vs. 54.8%, Pâ =â 0.65). CONCLUSION: Alcohol drinkers compared with non-drinkers required a higher dosage of antihypertensive drug treatment to achieve similar blood pressure control. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY NUMBER: NCT00670566 at www.clinicaltrials.gov.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Drinking , Antihypertensive Agents , Hypertension , Humans , Male , Alcohol Drinking/adverse effects , Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology , Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use , Blood Pressure , Hydrochlorothiazide , Hypertension/diagnosis , Hypertension/drug therapy , Hypertension/epidemiology , Irbesartan/therapeutic use , TetrazolesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between current and former smoking and the risk of mortality in elderly Chinese men. METHODS: Our study participants were elderly (≥ 60 years) men recruited in a suburban town of Shanghai. Cigarette smoking status was categorized as never smoking, remote (cessation > 5 years) and recent former smoking (cessation ≤ 5 years), and light-to-moderate (≤ 20 cigarettes/day) and heavy current smoking (> 20 cigarettes/day). Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic splines were used to examine the associations of interest. RESULTS: The 1568 participants had a mean age of 68.6 ± 7.1 years. Of all participants, 311 were never smokers, 201 were remote former smokers, 133 were recent former smokers, 783 were light-to-moderate current smokers and 140 were heavy current smokers. During a median follow-up of 7.9 years, all-cause, cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular deaths occurred in 267, 106 and 161 participants, respectively. Heavy current smokers had the highest risk of all-cause and non-cardiovascular mortality, with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 2.30 (95% CI: 1.34-4.07) and 3.98 (95% CI: 2.03-7.83) versus never smokers, respectively. Recent former smokers also had a higher risk of all-cause (HR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.04-2.52) and non-cardiovascular mortality (HR = 2.40, 95% CI: 1.32-4.37) than never smokers. Cox regression restricted cubic spline models showed the highest risk of all-cause and non-cardiovascular mortality within 5 years of smoking cessation and decline thereafter. Further subgroup analyses showed interaction between smoking status and pulse rate (≥ 70 beats/min vs. < 70 beats/min) in relation to the risk of all-cause and non-cardiovascular mortality, with a higher risk in current versus never smokers in those participants with a pulse rate below 70 beats/min. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette smoking in elderly Chinese confers significant risks of mortality, especially when recent former smoking is considered together with current smoking.