TY - JOUR T1 - CRitique of the clinical importance of diurectic-induced hypokalemia and elevated cholesterol level AU - FREIS ED Y1 - 1989/12/01 N1 - 10.1001/archinte.1989.00390120012004 JO - Archives of Internal Medicine SP - 2640 EP - 2648 VL - 149 IS - 12 N2 - One of the disappointing conclusions of the antihypertensive drug trials is that, while most morbid events were prevented by treatment, the incidence of death from coronary heart disease (CHD) was not significantly reduced. As originally emphasized in the Veterans Administration trial1 and in most subsequent trials, treatment has not resulted in a significant reduction in myocardial infarction (MI) and sudden death.Various hypotheses have been advanced to explain the lack of benefit in the prevention of complications of coronary heart disease, including the following: (1) critical reduction of blood flow in the coronary arteries by lowering blood pressure too far with antihypertensive drugs; (2) initiation of treatment too late in patients with extensive coronary artery atherosclerosis; (3) failure to reduce other risk factors, such as diet and cigarette smoking; (4) inadequate length of follow-up to detect differences; and (5) use of drugs that may increase the risk of CHD SN - 0003-9926 M3 - doi: 10.1001/archinte.1989.00390120012004 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1989.00390120012004 ER -