Alprenolol in Hypertension: An Open Assessment in General Practice

Abstract

In an open study of alprenolol for hypertension in 100 patients and involving 29 practitioners, the drug was found to he capable of controlling blood pressure to a level of 120 mm Hg mean blood pressure in 79 patients, either alone or in combination with other drugs, at an average dose of 359 mg daily. The average systolic blood pressure fell from 186 to 157 mm Hg, and the average diastolic pressure fell from 112 to 95 mm Hg over 8-12 weeks. Three patients had to withdraw from treatment due to side-effects. Thirteen patients had side-effects of tolerable nature, and 16 patients with side-effects of similar severity on previous treatment suffered less or not at all when switched to alprenolol. These results are very similar to other studies of the same type using other beta-blockers, but the side-effect frequency seems to be lower with alprenolol. This is corroborated by comparative official side-effect reporting over seven years for different beta-blockers.