CARDURA ® Doxazosin

CARDURA ® is a drug based on Doxazosin mesylate.

THERAPEUTIC GROUP: Blocker of alpha-adrenergic receptors.

Indications CARDURA ® Doxazosin

CARDURA ® is indicated in the treatment of essential arterial hypertension.

Mechanism of action CARDURA ® Doxazosin

Doxazosin, taken orally through CARDURA ®, is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, reaching maximum plasma concentrations between the second and fourth hour after administration. Almost completely metabolised in the liver, it is excreted after a long half-life (about 22 hours), mainly in the faeces.
Largely bound to plasma proteins, CARDURA ® is able to selectively act on the alpha 1 adrenergic receptors expressed on the surface of vascular smooth muscle cells, inhibiting their activation and consequent contraction. In systemic terms this effect translates into a reduction of peripheral arterial vasoconstriction, with a drop in afterload and blood pressure.
The therapeutic effect of CARDURA ®, which materializes in the hypotensive role of doxazosin, appears approximately 2 hours after its intake, to be maximized between the fourth and sixth hour.
The aforementioned haemodynamic effects, which inevitably also translate into a regression of left ventricular hypertrophy, are flanked by metabolic ones, with a reduction in plasma lipid concentrations and cardiovascular risk. All this guarantees an important preventive action against cardiovascular pathologies.

Studies carried out and clinical efficacy

STUDIO ASOCIA: EFFECTIVENESS OF DOXAZOSIN IN HYPERTENSION

J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2006 Feb; 47: 271-6.

Effect of doxazosin gastrointestinal therapeutic system on patients with uncontrolled hypertension: the ASOCIA Study.

de Alvaro F, Hernández-Presa MA; ASOCIA Study.

This important study, conducted on approximately 3600 patients, has shown that the administration of doxazosin (4 or 8 mg / day), for a few weeks, can lead to a drop in systolic blood pressure from 161 mmHg to 142 mmHg in the first 4 weeks of treatment. up to 136 mmHg at the sixteenth week. The same trend was observed for diastolic blood pressure, with a reduction from 95 to 84 mmHg in the first 4 weeks, down to only 80 mmHg at the sixteenth week of treatment.

2.DOXAZOSIN IN THE TREATMENT OF RESISTANT ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Blood Press. 2009; 18 (1-2): 74-7.

Doxazosin: safety and efficacy in the treatment of resistant arterial hypertension.

Ceral J, Solar M.

Doxazosin has been used with enormous therapeutic success in the treatment of arterial hypertension resistant to common drug therapy. The data show a reduction in blood pressure levels from 159/92 mmHg to 126/73 mmHg, recorded in about 100 patients treated for several months with doxazosin in daily doses between 2 and 16mg.

3.DOXAZOSIN IN CARDIOVASCULAR PROTECTION

Am J Hypertens. 2001 Mar; 14: 267-70.

Doxazosin, an alpha1-adrenergic antihypertensive agent, decreases serum oxidized LDL.

Kinoshita M, Shimazu N, Fujita M, Fujimaki Y, Kojima K, Mikuni Y, Horie E, Teramoto T.

Unlike many other antihypertensive drugs, doxazosin seems to combine the hypotensive action with a metabolic effect, ensuring a significant reduction in plasma concentrations of LDL cholesterol and above all in the oxidized share of this lipoprotein. This important metabolic effect could represent an additional weapon in the protection from cardiovascular diseases.

Method of use and dosage

CARDURA ® 2/4 mg tablets of doxazosin: in the treatment of arterial hypertension, the therapeutic procedure involves the administration of 1 mg of doxazosin (half a 2 mg tablet) for the first 2 weeks. In the event that the hypotensive effect obtained is not the one sought, a dosage adjustment could be made, up to a maximum of 16 mg / day.
Given the long half-life of the drug, it could be used once a day.
The optimization of the hypotensive efficacy could also be obtained through the concomitant administration of another antihypertensive drug.

IN ANY CASE, BEFORE TAKING CARDURA ® Doxazosin - YOU NEED THE PRESCRIPTION AND CONTROL OF YOUR DOCTOR.

Warnings CARDURA ® Doxazosin

It is advisable to start the therapeutic protocol with modest dosages of doxazosin (1 mg / day), in order to avoid the classic symptoms of postural hypotension that follow the intake of CARDURA ® in the initial phase of treatment, or in subsequent dose adjustments.
Also considering the important hepatic metabolism, CARDURA ® should be administered with particular care - by frequently monitoring blood pressure levels and liver function - in patients with hepatic insufficiency or reduced function of this organ.
Side effects associated with hypotension, such as dizziness, somnolence and dizziness, could compromise the patient's normal perceptual abilities and make the use of machines and driving vehicles dangerous.

PREGNANCY AND BREASTFEEDING

Experimental studies have shown no particular harmful effects on the health of the fetus, except at much higher dosages than therapeutic ones. Despite these evidences, the intake of CARDURA ® during pregnancy should be as limited as possible, given the potential haemodynamic effects that could compromise placental perfusion and correct fetal development, and the absence of clinical trials.
The same discourse is replicable during breastfeeding, given the possible secretion of doxazosin in breast milk.

Interactions

The various studies published in the literature seem to agree on the good tolerability profile of doxazosin and on the absence of evident drug interactions, risky for the patient's health.
Noteworthy is the increase in the hypotensive efficacy recorded following the concomitant intake of CARDURA ® with other antihypertensive drugs; effect that can also be successfully used for therapeutic purposes.

Contraindications CARDURA ® Doxazosin

CARDURA ® is contraindicated in case of hypersensitivity to one of its components and severe reduction of liver function.

Undesirable Effects - Side Effects

The vasodilating action of the drug seems to be partly responsible for the side effects associated with CARDURA ® therapy. More precisely, asthenia, malaise, edema, dizziness, headache, dizziness and somnolence were the most commonly observed during the various clinical trials.
To these are added others, some of which of modest clinical relevance, complained by patients undergoing therapy, and collected during the post-marketing phase, including: hypotension, sensation of heat, paraesthesia, redness, gastro-intestinal disorders, bronchospasms, changes in heart rate and bleeding capacity.

Note

CARDURA ® can only be sold under medical prescription.

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