This four-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial assessed the new benzodiazepine derivative alprazolam (Xanax) treatment of moderate to severe anxiety characteristic of anxiety neurosis. Sixty-two outpatients participated; 8 per cent of those taking drug and 52 per cent of those taking placebo discontinued participation due to side effects or lack of efficacy. The mean total daily alprazolam dose was 1.35 mg taken in divided doses. Alprazolam significantly improved scores on five anxiety rating scales--Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Physician's Global Impressions, Target Symptoms Record, Self-Rating Symptom Scale, and Patient's Global Impressions. Alprazolam patients experienced no clinically significant changes in vital signs and laboratory values; they reported drowsiness as the most frequent side effect. We conclude that alprazolam is an effective and safe anxiolytic agent.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hydrochlorothiazide added to valsartan is more effective than when added to olmesartan in reducing blood pressure in moderately hypertensive patients inadequately controlled by monotherapy.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects on blood pressure of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 12.5 mg added to valsartan 160 mg or to olmesartan 20 mg in hypertensive patients. After a 2-wk placebo period, 130 patients, aged 35 to 75 y, with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >or=99 and 110 mm Hg were randomly assigned to olmesartan 20 mg once daily or to valsartan 160 mg once daily according to a prospective, parallel-arm study design. After 4 wk of monotherapy, patients whose BP was not controlled (DBP >or=90 mm Hg) were given combination treatment with HCTZ 12.5 mg for an additional 4 wk. At the end of the placebo period and at the end of each treatment period, clinical and ambulatory BP measurements were recorded. At the end of the combination therapy period, venous blood samples were drawn 2, 4, and 24 h after drug intake for evaluation of HCTZ plasma concentrations. Both combinations induced a greater ambulatory BP reduction than monotherapy. However, mean reduction from baseline in the valsartan/HCTZ-treated patients (-21.5)-14.6 mm Hg for 24 h, -21.8/-14.9 mm Hg for daytime, and -20.4/-13.7 mm Hg for nighttime systolic blood pressure [SBP]/DBP) was greater than in the olmesartan/HCTZ-treated patients )-18.8/-12.3 mm Hg for 24 h, -19.3/-12.8 mm Hg for daytime, and 17.4/-10.6 mm Hg for nighttime SBP/DBP). The difference between the effects of the 2 treatments was significant (P<.01). In particular, compared with monotherapy, the add-on effect of HCTZ 12.5 mg was significantly greater in the valsartan group than in those treated with olmesartan; the difference was more evident for nighttime BP values. Plasma concentrations of HCTZ were significantly greater with valsartan than with olmesartan at each determination time (P<.05). These findings suggest that the addition of HCTZ 12.5 mg to valsartan 160 mg monotherapy produces a greater BP reduction than the addition of the same dose of HCTZ to olmesartan 20 mg monotherapy.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Significance of the electric current characteristics used in rheography. Study on the relationship between frequency, voltage and intensity of the current with reference to impedance values of the body mass].

Impedance variations of corporeal segments were evaluated in relation to the variations in current frequency and intensity using a tetrapolar measuring apparatus. The results appear to confirm the reliability of the technique and, on the basis of the study of current transmission in the segment, it is suggested that frequencies between 70 and 240 KHz. particularly around 140 KHz, are the most suited to this type of measurement.

Electrodiagnosis↗