These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.
Pubmed for Handhelds
PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS
Search MEDLINE/PubMed
Title: Hypertension in the elderly diabetic: therapeutic aspects. Author: Frank HJ. Journal: J Hypertens Suppl; 1988 Nov; 6(1):S109-11. PubMed ID: 3063784. Abstract: Elderly diabetic patients with hypertension present a difficult medical management problem. The guidelines published by the 1987 Working Group on Hypertension in Diabetes in the United States suggest a stepped care approach to drug therapy in these patients. The stepped care strategy is to add a series of antihypertensive medications sequentially until the blood pressure is controlled. The first step includes one of the following: thiazide diuretics, beta-blockers, alpha-adrenergic inhibitors, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or calcium channel blockers. The second step adds a second agent from the same group, while the third step adds a vasodilator and step four adds a drug like guanethidine if the combination of other drugs fails. This approach presents many perils in the aged patient with diabetes. In these patients the physician should: (1) limit the use of diuretics and beta-blockers; (2) favour the use of calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors; (3) use a substitution approach rather than a stepped care approach; and (4) use monotherapy if possible.[Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]