Once-daily dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers appeared to lower blood pressure by a relatively constant amount throughout the 24-hour dosing interval .
Six dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers studied in this review lowered blood pressure by a relatively similar amount each hour over the course of 24 hours .
BACKGROUND Calcium channel blockers are a heterogeneous class of drugs , including dihydropyridine and non-dihydropyridine subgroups , commonly used in the treatment of hypertension .
A systematic review of the 24-hour time course of the blood pressure-lowering effect has not been published .
OBJECTIVES To assess how much variation there is in hourly systolic and diastolic blood pressure lowering by dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers over a 24-hour period in people with hypertension aged 18 years or over , with baseline systolic blood pressure of at least 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of at least 90 mmHg , or both .
Antihypertensive efficacy and safety of olmesartan medoxomil compared with amlodipine for mild-to-moderate hypertension
The antihypertensive efficacy of the angiotensin II receptor blocker olmesartan medoxomil has been shown to compare favourably with that of other antihypertensive agents . This r and omized , double-blind study compared the antihypertensive efficacy of the starting dose of olmesartan medoxomil with that of the calcium channel blocker amlodipine besylate ( amlodipine ) in subjects with mild-to-moderate hypertension . Following a 4-week , single-blind , placebo run-in period , 440 subjects aged ⩾18 years were r and omized to the starting dose of olmesartan medoxomil ( 20 mg/day ) , amlodipine ( 5 mg/day ) , or placebo for 8 weeks . Subjects were evaluated by  24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring ( ABPM ) and by seated cuff blood pressure ( BP ) measurements at trough . The primary end point was the change from baseline in mean 24-h diastolic blood pressure ( DBP ) by ABPM at Week 8 . Secondary end points included change from baseline in mean 24-h ambulatory systolic blood pressure ( SBP ) at 8 weeks , change from baseline in mean seated trough cuff DBP and SBP measurements , and response and control rates for DBP < 90 and < 85 mmHg . Control rates for SBP < 140 and < 130 mmHg were also calculated . Olmesartan medoxomil and amlodipine produced significantly greater reductions in ambulatory and seated DBP and SBP compared with placebo . Mean reductions in ambulatory and seated BP were similar between the two active agents ; however , in the olmesartan medoxomil group , significantly more patients achieved the SBP goal of < 130 mmHg and the DBP goal of < 85 mmHg . Both drugs were well tolerated at the recommended starting dose . Although amlodipine was associated with a higher incidence of oedema , this did not reach statistical significance . Olmesartan medoxomil is an effective antihypertensive agent , with BP-lowering efficacy at the starting dose similar to that of amlodipine , and is associated with more patients achieving the rigorous BP goals of SBP < 130 mmHg and DBP < 85 mmHg
Once-daily dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers appeared to lower blood pressure by a relatively constant amount throughout the 24-hour dosing interval .
Six dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers studied in this review lowered blood pressure by a relatively similar amount each hour over the course of 24 hours .
BACKGROUND Calcium channel blockers are a heterogeneous class of drugs , including dihydropyridine and non-dihydropyridine subgroups , commonly used in the treatment of hypertension .
A systematic review of the 24-hour time course of the blood pressure-lowering effect has not been published .
OBJECTIVES To assess how much variation there is in hourly systolic and diastolic blood pressure lowering by dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers over a 24-hour period in people with hypertension aged 18 years or over , with baseline systolic blood pressure of at least 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of at least 90 mmHg , or both .