Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0038454 (stroke)
 147,016 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of the antiarrhythmic drug verapamil (Isoptin) on circulatory dynamics and myocardial contractility was studied in six patients in sinus rhythm: three patients were control subjects and three had underlying rheumatic valvular disease. The drug was given as an intravenous bolus (10 mg) and measurements made in the control state and repeated 1, 3, 5 and 10 min after administration of verapamil. Left ventricular (LV) systolic pressure fell by 18% 1 min after intravenous verapamil (p less than 0.01) and returned twoards the range of normal after 10 min. Heart rate increased and cardiac and stroke index were not altered 5 and 10 min after administration of the drug. Peak LVdp/dt and Vmax were reduced while LV end-diastolic pressure increased reflecting a decrease in LV contractility. The hemodynamic effects were similar in digitalised and nondigitalised patients.
 ...
PMID:Immediate haemodynamic effects of verapamil in man. 123 67

Treatment of hypertension may prevent many of the complications attributable to blood pressure elevation, particularly those that are "pressure-related," such as stroke. However, the atherosclerotic complications of hypertension, e.g., coronary artery disease manifested as coronary morbidity and mortality, have not been reduced significantly with antihypertensive therapy. This disappointing outcome may reflect the adverse metabolic effects of the traditional therapies, diuretics and beta blockers, and their lack of specific vasoprotective properties. Increasing attention is thus being paid to the newer antihypertensive agents, which typically have fewer adverse effects and perhaps more physiologic mechanisms of antihypertensive action. Since calcium plays a key role in the genesis of atherosclerosis, calcium antagonists may positively affect the course of vascular disease. Investigators have observed that calcium antagonists display clear antiatherosclerotic properties in experimental as well as clinical studies. In one recently published clinical study, coronary artery disease was shown to develop more slowly, with a slower progression of individual stenoses, higher regression rate and less frequent occurrence of new lesions in patients treated chronically with verapamil compared to those receiving conventional therapies. Other similar investigations are currently under way to evaluate the antiatherogenic properties of calcium antagonists, including the Frankfurt Isoptin Progression Study (FIPS), the Multicenter Isradipine Diuretic Atherosclerosis Study (MIDAS), the International Nifedipine Trial on Atherosclerosis Coronary Therapy (INTACT), and the large-scale Montreal Heart Institute Study. Results of these studies, which use precise end points such as myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction and peripheral vascular disease, may revolutionize the treatment of hypertension by identifying therapeutic approaches that control both the pressure-related and atherosclerotic complications of the disease.
 ...
PMID:Anti-atherosclerotic and vasculoprotective actions of calcium antagonists. 225 66

Although sudden cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or stroke can occur at any time of day, event rates increase during the waking hours, particularly in the morning. In most people-both normotensive and hypertensive-blood pressure (BP) rises rapidly in the early morning hours, the time when most individuals wake and begin their day. This rise in BP corresponds to increased secretion of catecholamines and increased plasma renin activity. Thus, vascular tone and total peripheral resistance increase in the morning hours, and BP rises as a result. At the same time, heart rate increases. In the late morning or early afternoon, BP reaches its peak. After that, BP declines, falling 15 to 20 mm Hg between about 8 PM and 2 AM, the time when BP is usually lowest. These findings have led to an interest in chronotherapy for hypertension. A major objective of chronotherapy for hypertension is to deliver the drug in higher concentrations during the early-morning post-awakening period, when BP is highest, and in lesser concentrations during the middle of a sleep cycle, when BP is low. Traditional sustained-release pharmacologic agents, which deliver a near-constant drug concentration, were not designed to complement the circadian pattern. There are currently two antihypertensive agents, Verelan PM (verapamil HCl) and Covera HS (verapamil HCl), that provide chronotherapy for hypertension. These drugs use novel delivery systems that provide 24-h BP control while maximizing drug concentrations in the morning and minimizing drug concentrations during sleep.
 ...
PMID:Pharmacology of cardiovascular chronotherapeutic agents. 1158 43

Trandolapril/verapamil sustained release (SR) [Tarka] is an oral, fixed-dose combination of the ACE inhibitor trandolapril and the SR formulation of the phenylalkylamine calcium channel antagonist verapamil. It is indicated for the treatment of hypertension in patients who require more than one agent to achieve blood pressure (BP) targets. In the large, randomised, multicentre INVEST (INternational VErapamil SR/trandolapril STudy), a verapamil SR-based treatment strategy that included trandolapril in most patients was as effective as an atenolol-based treatment strategy in reducing the risk of the primary outcome (first occurrence of death [all-cause], nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI] or nonfatal stroke) in patients with hypertension and coronary artery disease (CAD) and was as well tolerated. Trandolapril/verapamil SR is generally more effective at controlling hypertension than either component as monotherapy, and is as effective as a number of other fixed-dose combination therapies. The combination is as well tolerated as trandolapril monotherapy and is at least as well tolerated as verapamil SR monotherapy. In hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the BENEDICT (BErgamo NEphrologic DIabetes Complications Trial), trandolapril/verapamil SR prolonged the time to the onset of persistent microalbuminuria compared with placebo, as did trandolapril monotherapy. Thus, trandolapril/verapamil SR is an effective option for the treatment of essential hypertension in patients requiring more than one agent to achieve BP targets, including those with compelling indications, such as CAD or type 2 diabetes.
 ...
PMID:Trandolapril/verapamil sustained release: a review of its use in the treatment of essential hypertension. 1611 84