Senior physicians to be briefed on new Coronary Artery Disease and Hypertension research

The Continuing Medical Education Seminar on the Management of Hypertension and CAD will take place on 19 January, with Dr Nafiz Ghamri, senior consultant physician and cardiologist at the Al Dhaid Hospital, presiding.

Under discussion will be the implications of the study, which demonstrates that a calcium channel blocker-based treatment for reducing blood pressure performed as a beta blocker-based treatment in lessening the risk of death, heart attack or stroke in high-risk patients suffering from hypertension and CAD.

A total of 22,000 high-risk patients from 15 countries participated in the INVEST (International Verapamil SR - Trandolapril Study) research, which demonstrated to physicians that a Verapamil-based treatment could be used as an alternative to beta blocker-based treatment, which have long been the standard treatment for patients suffering from the conditions.

There were also indications that patients given the Verapamil-based treatment were less likely to develop diabetes than those given a beta blocker-based treatment, although more research is needed to explore this.

"The Verapamil-based treatment is a significant development for physicians treating patients with CAD and hypertension in the Middle East, which have long been managed through the use of beta blocker-based treatment. The emergence of a credible alternative is good news for specialists dealing with cases of these high-risk conditions," said Dr Ghamri.

"The reduction in blood pressure readings recorded in a majority of users, coupled with indications that the risk of developing diabetes could be reduced in patients treated with the drug, offer a credible alternative for doctors," he said.

"To reach target blood pressure, a large proportion of patients require combination therapy with more than one agent. It appears reasonable to initiate therapy with a low-dose combination of two agents like Tarka," concluded Dr. Ghamri.

A full-day workshop on the treatment of hypertension is also planned for the Congress, which may be of additional interest to physicians planning to attend the CME lecture on the condition and CAD.

The seminar, which is being supported by Abbott Laboratories in association with the Ministry of Health, is part of a series of events at Arab Health 2004 aimed at developing knowledge in the medical community.