[Various principles of treatment of hypertension with diuretics].
A scheme of prolonged continuous treatment has been developed for patients with essential hypertension (EH). It is based on the principle of differentiated application of the drug in individualized doses, and furosemide testing with subsequent switching to small doses of hypothiazide or some other diuretic agent conducive to the maintenance of the daily natriuresis/mean AP ratio at 1.9-2.0. A series of procedures are also proposed which prevent the development of refractory reaction to the drug or side-effects. The scheme was tested in the course of diuretic treatment of 110 in-patients with EH, stage IIA and IIB, of which 23 were subsequently treated for 6-12 months on an out-patient basis. It was noted that 22% of EH patients were highly sensitive to diuretics, 40-43% showed moderate sensitivity, so that 2-3 weeks' courses of small doses of beta-blockers or corinfar were needed 4-5 times a year to provide a good hypotensive effect, and 38-35% of patients showed poor sensitivity to diuretics and should preferably be treated with other hypotensive agents. The diuretic treatment according to the new regimen was associated with a reduced rate of side-effects.