Study: Diuretics Aid in Preventing Strokes

Treating high blood pressure with drugs works best at preventing one of its major complications--strokes--if diuretics are included, research suggests. The study, reported in the current edition of Archives of Internal Medicine, involved 3,170 patients taking one or more drugs to treat high blood pressure, the single most important cause of strokes. Among those without underlying heart disease, treatment without a diuretic was linked to an 85% increased risk of stroke, compared with therapy including a diuretic. Diuretics, which work by flushing excess sodium and water from the body, are among the oldest drugs used to control high blood pressure.