Efficacy of four antihypertensive drugs (clonidine, enalapril, nitrendipine, oxprenolol) on stress blood pressure

The effect of four different blood pressure reducers (antihypertensives) on blood pressure during everyday life stress and during stress induced in a laboratory was studied. Sixty middle-aged men with mild to moderate high blood pressure (hypertension), never previously treated, were treated with low dose clonidine, oxprenolol, nitrendipine, or enalapril. All four groups were similar in age, weight, degree of obesity and blood pressure. After six months of therapy, diastolic (i.e., while the heart is at rest, between beats) blood pressure was the same in all four groups. Systolic blood pressure (during the pumping phase) was lower in patients treated with clonidine or oxprenolol than those treated with enalapril. Blood pressure under stress was lowest in patients treated with oxprenolol and nitrendipine together. Oxprenolol was not as effective as nitrendipine or enalapril during mental stress tests.