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Summary
Twenty patients with mild to severe essential hypertension completed a 12-week open crossover study to compare the effectiveness and tolerance of two beta-blocker/diuretic combinations. Patients were allocated at random to receive treatment for 6 weeks with either 40 mg propranolol plus 12.5 mg hydrochloro-thiazide twice daily or 400 mg acebutolol plus 25 mg hydrochlorothiazide once daily. They were then crossed over to the alternative medication for a further 6 weeks. Blood pressures and pulse rate were monitored in the supine and erect positions at regular intervals, as were side-effects, laboratory variables and ECG. The results showed that both combinations produced significant reductions from baseline in systolic and diastolic blood pressures but that the acebutolol combination produced a significantly greater reduction in diastolic blood pressure. There was no evidence of a treatment sequence effect. The two drug treatments were reasonably well tolerated, with a trend in favour of the acebutolol combination. No clinically significant changes were observed in any of the laboratory parameters investigated and there were no ECG abnormalities.