Newer antihypertensive therapy reduces cardiovascular events

Antihypertensive therapy based on the calcium channel blocker amlodipine, with the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor perindopril added as required, reduced cardiovascular events compared with treatment based on the β blocker atenolol, according to the final results from the Anglo-Scandinavian cardiac out-comes trial-blood pressure lowering arm (ASCOT-BPLA) trial published online this week in the Lancet (http://www.lancet.com/, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67186-3).

The trial randomised 19 257 hypertensive patients aged 40-79 years with at least three other cardiovascular risk factors to one of two antihypertensive regimens—amlodipine (5-10 mg) with or without perindopril (4-8 mg), or atenolol (50-100 mg) with or without the …