One of the most widely used drug combinations is responsible for kidney failure and death, researchers have discovered this week.
Combining an ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) drug with an ARB (angiotensin receptor blocker) can be lethal, especially among elderly patients, say researchers from the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.
And at least 15 per cent of patients shouldn’t be taking the combination at all, as they have don’t even have the heart problems for which the drugs are intended to treat.
Most of the deaths and kidney problems occur within three months of starting treatment. After that time, those patients still alive invariably come off the combination because their blood pressure has fallen perilously low.
(Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2011; doi: 10.1503/cmaj.101333).
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