prestim and Hypertension

A sample of 500 patients with mild to moderate hypertension, who had been successfully controlled on once daily timolol/bendrofluazide at the end of a 3-month general practice study, was followed up after approximately 1 year of treatment. Physicians who had participated in the trial were questioned on the current status of these patients. Out of 479 reports received, data showed that 358 (75%) patients were still normotensive 47 weeks after starting treatment with timolol/bendrofluazide and in a further 8 patients other antihypertensive agents had been added to this therapy. Of the 113 patients no longer receiving timolol/bendrofluazide, only 38 (7.9%) had stopped therapy due to adverse effects. It is concluded that the results are a further indication that timolol/bendrofluazide offers an acceptable and balanced long-term form of therapy in hypertension for both the patient and the physician.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Bendroflumethiazide; Body Weight; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Combinations; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Middle Aged; Pulse; Timolol

Fifty-three hypertensive patients from one practice, of whom forty-two were new patients, were treated with Prestim--a fixed dose combination of 10 mg timolol maleate and 2.5 mg bendrofluazide. After a 2-week placebo run-in period, dose titration took place at weekly intervals up to a maximum of 4 tablets daily. Stabilized patients were followed-up at 3 months and approximately 1 year. At the 3-month follow-up, forty-nine patients were evaluated. Forty-two patients (85%) were well controlled (diastolic blood pressure below 95 mm Hg) on Prestim at a mean daily dose of 1.4 tablets. Four patients stopped therapy due to side-effects and in three patients the blood pressure was uncontrolled on the maximum dose of 4 tablets daily. After 1 year, thirty-four patients (75%) were still well controlled on a mean dose of 1.3 tablets daily. A further two patients were lost to follow-up and six other patients stopped therapy during the last nine months of the study. There were no unexpected side-effects and the general biochemical profile remained unaltered.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Bendroflumethiazide; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Combinations; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Middle Aged; Propanolamines; Timolol

A study was carried out in general practice to investigate the effectiveness and tolerance of a fixed-dose combination of timolol maleate (10 mg) and bendrofluazide (2.5 mg) in 20 hypertensive patients who had been difficult to control with previous antihypertensive therapy. Patients were started initially on 2 tablets daily and the dose titrated at weekly intervals up to a maximum of 4 tablets daily or until normotension was achieved. If patients failed to respond adequately at this dosage level, prazosin (0.5 mg twice daily) was added to the regimen. At the end of the trial period of 16 weeks, 11 patients were controlled on timolol/bendrofluazide alone as were 8 of the other 9 patients after the addition of prazosin: 1 patient showed a variable response, probably due to poor compliance. Side-effects were either self-limiting or could be eliminated by alterations in the dosage regimen and there were no episodes of hypotension. It is concluded that the small group of patients with mild to moderate hypertension who are relatively resistant to standard therapy can be controlled in general practice by the judicious use of a combination of timolol/bendrofluazide and prazosin with no increase in side-effects or reduction in compliance.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Antihypertensive Agents; Bendroflumethiazide; Blood Pressure; Drug Combinations; Family Practice; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Middle Aged; Prazosin; Pulse; Timolol

A fixed dose combination of 10 mg timolol and 2.5 mg bendrofluazide was evaluated in 1640 general practice patients with mild to moderate hypertension. This was an open study lasting 3 months with an initial 2-week placebo controlled run-in phase. Of the 1315 patients who were evaluable, 1169 (89%) became normotensive on a mean single daily dose of 1.75 tablets. Fifty-four (4%) patients were uncontrolled on a maximum dose of 4 tablets daily and 79 (6%) patients stopped therapy prematurely due to side-effects. A further 13 (1%) patients withdrew because of hypotension or bradycardia. Biochemical parameters stayed within normal values. Overall, the results showed that the combination of timolol and bendrofluazide was an effective and well accepted treatment for mild to moderate hypertension in a large and varied general practice population.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Antihypertensive Agents; Bendroflumethiazide; Blood Pressure; Drug Combinations; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Middle Aged; Pulse; Timolol

This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a timolol/bendrofluazide combination (Prestim) in mild to moderate essential hypertension in patients not achieving control of blood pressure on a variety of drugs used alone or in combination (methyldopa, diuretics, beta-blockers, etc.). Normotension (diastolic blood pressure less than 95 mm Hg) was achieved in sixty-eight out of eighty-four (81%) patients with a mean daily dose of 1.9 tablets. Seven patients stopped therapy because of adverse reactions and eight patients did not respond to the maximum dose of four tablets daily. One other patient, initially controlled on two tablet daily, was uncontrolled at the final assessment. The change-over from previous therapy to Prestim was easily managed and no reports of metabolic disturbance were received. Prestim proved an effective alternative in patients not responding satisfactorily to other antihypertensive therapies.

Topics: Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; Adult; Aged; Antihypertensive Agents; Bendroflumethiazide; Diuretics; Drug Combinations; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Male; Methyldopa; Middle Aged; Timolol