Survey shows new Mayo Clinic treatment for intractable low bloo...( ood pressure occurs when a patient sudd...),Health

Significance of the Mayo Clinic Finding

Treatment options for orthostatic hypotension are limited because of side effects produced. Most worrisome is their tendency to cause high blood pressure when the patient lies down.

"Using pyridostigmine increases nerve transmission mainly when the patient stands up and not while the patient is lying down. Hence it improves standing blood pressure without increasing blood pressure when the patient is lying down," says Dr. Sandroni. "This is a big advantage to this treatment, because for the first time, we can offer control of dizziness and fainting without causing a further problem."

About the Mayo Clinic Study

To evaluate patient satisfaction, researchers contacted 29 patients by telephone and questioned them in a structured interview. All had previously participated in a well-controlled study to evaluate pyridostigmine's effectiveness and continued with the drug. Researchers asked specifically about patients' current symptoms of orthostatic hypotension, including gastrointestinal side effects, and their overall satisfaction with pyridostigmine. Twenty were still taking the drug at the time of the phone interview, and had been for about 19 months. Some took it in combination with other drugs.

Seventeen of the 20 taking pyridostigmine were extremely satisfied with its effects. Nine patients had stopped taking the drug, mostly because they found it wasn't helpful.

The average age of the patients was 61. Causes of their low blood pressure ranged from general weakening of various physical systems due to age to unspecified failure of the autonomic system, to damage to the autonomic system due to autoimmune disease.

Researchers are encouraged by the results of this follow-up study because it provides more data about successfully treating the disorder.
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Contact: John Murphy
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic
28-Apr-2004