Antianxiety Treatment May Help Lower BP

In a report published in the American Journal of Hypertension, researchersin Israel suggest that patients experiencing an episode of highly elevatedblood pressure (BP), also called "acute hypertensive crisis [AHC]," could benefitfrom antianxiety treatment.

According to Ehud Grossman, MD, of the Chaim Sheba Medical Center inTel-Hashomer, many patients who have hypertension that is regularly controlledwith medication may experience an episode of AHC.

Therefore, researchers conducted a study of 36 adults seen in the emergencyroom for AHC. The patients all had a BP >190/100 mm Hg. They wererandomly assigned either 5 mg oral diazepam or 25 mg sublingual captopriland then monitored for heart rate and BP every hour for 3 hours. Both treatmentsreduced BP significantly and similarly and were well tolerated. In thediazepam group, BP levels fell from 213/105 mm Hg to 170/88 mm Hg, andfrom 208/107 mm Hg to 181/95 mm Hg in the captopril group.