PMID: 2490817May 1, 1989Paper

Calcium channel blockers. Potential medical benefits and side effects

Hypertension
H P Dustan

Abstract

Calcium channel blockers are recently developed antihypertensive drugs. In terms of mechanisms of action, their specificity is not so well established as that of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors but is better understood than that for diuretics or adrenergic-inhibiting drugs. Calcium channel blockers were originally developed for treatment of angina but were found to lower arterial pressure as well. Three of them are now in wide use in the United States; their therapeutic spectrum in regard to type of hypertension is broad. Sublingual nifedipine has replaced intravenously administered vasodilators as immediate treatment of severe hypertension, and all three drugs, given orally, have been shown to be effective in mild, moderate, and severe hypertension. The three drugs available in this country are verapamil, diltiazem, and nifedipine. Pharmacological studies have shown that verapamil has the most negative chronotropic and inotropic effects of the three, with nifedipine producing the most vasodilation and having the potential for causing reflex tachycardia. Actually in practice, these various pharmacological differences have proved to have less significance than previously thought, and the drugs seem to have about equal a...Continue Reading

References

Jan 1, 1985·Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology·L M ResnickJ H Laragh
Jun 1, 1986·Hypertension·C van BreemenC Cauvin
Nov 1, 1983·Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology·L HallinL Hansson
Jan 1, 1982·European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·R Eggertsen, L Hansson

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Nov 1, 1991·British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·D G McDevittM B Zetlein
Jun 4, 2013·Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology·Sule OzbilginAli Gunerli
Mar 4, 2020·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Matteo MicucciRoberta Budriesi
Jul 1, 1994·The Annals of Pharmacotherapy·R JaffeM Bursztyn

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Antianginal Drugs: Mechanisms of Action

Antianginal drugs, including nitrates, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers, are used in the treatment of angina pectoris. Here is the latest research on their use and their mechanism of action.

Antihypertensive Agents: Mechanisms of Action

Antihypertensive drugs are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) which aims to prevent the complications of high blood pressure, such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Discover the latest research on antihypertensive drugs and their mechanism of action here.