Doctors of high blood pressure are often prescribed by doctors. Some medications carry more risk of side effects than others. ACE inhibitor drugs such as lisinopril and enalapril are used throughout the world. One of the main side effects of these drugs is swelling of the lips and throat - angioedema in the medical language.
In new studies, the incidence of angioedema caused by ACE inhibitors in about four hundred thousand patients was studied.
The following data was obtained:
o For patients, this type of medication started; two out of a thousand developed angioedema during treatment. The incidence rate was 1.97 cases per 1000 person-years versus 0.51 per 1000 in those that started with other antihypertensive drugs. This means that angioedema due to ACE inhibitors is rare, but it also shows that ACE inhibitors are four times more likely to cause this than other blood pressure drugs.
o More than half of the lip exchange occurred within 90 days after the first use, but the risk remained elevated with prolonged use, even after 1 year.
o It appears that almost sixty percent of cases of angioedema in patients who become antihypertensive were associated with ACE inhibitors.
o Angioedema rates were almost 4 times higher in blacks, 50% higher in women and 12% lower in patients with diabetes.
This study shows us that angioedema is very rare, and that the indicators involved in it vary greatly depending on race, age, gender and whether the patient has diabetes or not.
Researchers say that when considering the use of this type of therapy in black patients, an increased risk of angioedema should be considered and discussed with patients.
We should not forget that ACE inhibitor drugs were valuable in preventing fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular diseases and renal events in patients at risk, and it is likely that they will continue to be prescribed in the foreseeable future.
