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Diuretics and Potassium Loss

Marvin Moser, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1981;141(8):983-984.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Elsewhere in this issue of the ARCHIVES (p 1015) is a report by Ram and associates that attempts to answer several important questions for the practicing physician: First, will moderate sodium restriction (below 100 mEq/ day) in a patient receiving diuretic therapy decrease the expected potassium wastage? Second, do diuretics differ in their effects on the degree of blood pressure (BP) lowering and potassium loss?

In a carefully controlled study of a small group of patients, Ram and associates administered several different diuretics and measured BP changes, sodium output, and total exchangeable body potassium. They have confirmed previous findings and demonstrated that chlorthalidone, the longest acting of the three diuretics used, not only lowered BP to a greater degree than the shortest-acting diuretic, furosemide, but also caused a greater potassium loss. Hydrochlorothiazide, a drug with an intermediate duration of action, produced a BP drop similar to that of chlorthalidone, but . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Valhalla, NY

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