Bonus From Your BP Medicine: Fewer Fractures?

MONDAY, Nov. 21, 2016 (HealthDay Information) -- Hypertension and weakened bones are two large well being points for seniors.

Now, new information means that one class of medicine would possibly assist defend towards each.

The examine of 1000's of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicare sufferers discovered that anti-hypertension meds referred to as thiazide diuretics additionally appeared to decrease odds of a affected person struggling a hip or pelvic fracture, in contrast with individuals on different hypertension medicines.

The discovering made sense to 1 endocrinologist.

"It's well-known that thiazide remedy can decrease calcium excretion into the urine by as a lot as 50 p.c," mentioned Dr. Caroline Messer, who reviewed the brand new findings.

"This tendency in direction of a constructive calcium stability within the physique might [slow] bone loss and cut back fracture danger," defined Messer. She directs the Heart for Pituitary and Neuroendocrine Problems at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York Metropolis.

The examine was funded by the U.S. Nationwide Coronary heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and led by Dr. Joshua Barzilay of Kaiser Permanente of Georgia. His workforce tracked information from greater than 22,000 sufferers, averaging 70 years of age.

These VA and Medicare sufferers had all enrolled in a medical trial that in contrast how various kinds of blood pressure-lowering medication affected coronary heart illness and coronary heart assault danger. Affected person outcomes had been adopted for a mean of almost 5 years.

The evaluation confirmed that sufferers who took thiazide-type diuretic medication had a 21 p.c decrease danger of hip and pelvic fractures than those that took both lisinopril (from a category of medicine generally known as ACE inhibitors) or amlodipine (from the category of medicine generally known as calcium channel blockers).

The information "strongly advocate use of a thiazide for hypertension therapy along with its lengthy monitor report of cardiovascular safety," Barzilay's workforce concluded.

Messer mentioned that thiazides might not be the primary selection for each affected person, nonetheless. She defined that "therapy should all the time be individualized," as a result of thiazide diuretics, like all medicines, include their very own dangers. These embrace hyponatremia (too little sodium within the blood) and an elevated danger for falls, Messer defined.

Dr. David Friedman is chief of coronary heart failure companies at Northwell Well being Lengthy Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital in New York. He agreed with Messer that whereas the brand new information look promising for using thiazide diuretics, choices for particular person sufferers "must be weighed in a danger and profit evaluation."

The examine was revealed on-line Nov. 21 within the journal JAMA Inner Medication.