Treatment of hypertension in the elderly with captopril

Fifteen elderly hypertensives aged fifty-nine to seventy-four years received captopril either as a monotherapy (group I, n=7) or as an addition to other antihypertensive drugs (group II, n=8) for twelve to fourteen months. Both the mean supine and erect blood pressure fell from 173.3 +/- 3.4/93.3 +/- 6.6 to 143.3 +/- 3.4/78.3 +/- 1.7 and from 166.7 +/- 8.6/98.3 +/- 4.4 to 146.7 +/- 12.0/85.0 +/- 2.9 mm Hg, respectively, in group I, and from 165.6 +/- 10.5/104.9 +/- 4.4 to 128.8 +/- 4.7/84.1 +/- 1.7 and from 154.0 +/- 10.1/107.8 +/- 3.3 to 126.3 +/- 6.0/88.8 +/- 1.2 mm Hg, respectively, in group II. There was a slight but insignificant reduction in pulse rate and body weight. Side effects were minimal. All patients experienced a sense of well-being. There was no impairment of renal function in most patients and no reduction in serum K. This study suggests that, in elderly hypertensives, captopril reduces blood pressure safely and effectively without impairing perfusion to the brain, heart, and kidneys and without causing edema or hypokalemia.