Acebutolol in the treatment of diabetic patients with hypertension

A double-blind, parallel group comparison study was carried out in 20 diabetic patients with mild to moderate hypertension to assess the effectiveness and tolerance of acebutolol compared with placebo. After a 4-week wash-out period on placebo, patients received either 400 mg acebutolol or placebo once daily for 12 weeks and then placebo for a further 4 weeks. The results showed that acebutolol was more effective than placebo in lowering raised blood pressure in these patients. No deterioration in diabetic control occurred during the study and no significant side-effects of the drug were observed compared with placebo. In particular, the previously described side-effects of beta-blocker therapy in diabetic patients were not observed as a clinical problem in this study.