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Alpha Blockers


DISEASE AND DRUG FAMILY INFORMATION
Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH)
If your BPH symptoms are minimal, no treatment is necessary, no matter what the size of your prostate gland. If you have BPH symptoms and do not have a very enlarged gland, then an alpha-blocker such as terazosin would be the best choice. If your prostate is very enlarged, treatment with an alpha-blocker would again be the best choice. Finasteride should be used only if an alpha-blocker failed to relieve your symptoms.
High Blood Pressure
A study of nutritional therapy showed that over one-third of people who previously needed drug treatment for high blood pressure were able to adequately control their blood pressure with nutritional therapy alone.Several factors should be taken into account when considering whether your high blood pressure should be treated. One is the benefits of the treatment for your blood pressure, which vary significantly depending on how high it is, your age, and whether you have other risk factors such as high cholesterol or are a smoker or a diabetic, and whether you have had a heart attack, heart failure, a stroke, or have kidney damage. The other consideration is the risks or the adverse effects of the treatment, which will vary depending on what is being considered.

DRUG AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROFILES

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.

doxazosin [heart] (CARDURA [HEART]); prazosin (MINIPRESS); terazosin [heart] (HYTRIN [HEART])
  • We list these drugs as Do Not Use drugs because they are less effective than first-line treatments for high blood pressure.

WORST PILLS, BEST PILLS NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
Important Drug Interactions for the Antifungal Drug Voriconazole
May 2023
Patients taking the antifungal drug voriconazole (VFEND), which is marketed in both oral and injectable forms, should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
Drug-Induced Urinary Incontinence
September 2022
Numerous prescription and over-the-counter drugs can cause or exacerbate urinary incontinence. Knowing which medications prescribed or recommended by your doctor cause urinary incontinence will allow you to take steps to prevent or minimize this common, troubling adverse drug effect.
Important Drug Interactions for the Combination Antiviral COVID-19 Drug PAXLOVID
August 2022
Patients taking the oral combination antiviral drug PAXLOVID (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir), which is used to treat COVID-19, should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription medications.
Drug-Induced Sexual Dysfunction in Men
April 2022
Medications are a leading cause of sexual dysfunction in men. Knowing which drugs prescribed or recommended by your doctor can cause sexual dysfunction will allow you to take steps to prevent or minimize this common, often troubling adverse drug effect.
Important Drug Interactions for the Antifungal Drug Itraconazole
November 2021
Patients taking the oral antifungal drug itraconazole (SPORANOX, TOLSURA) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications that can affect the safety or effectiveness of itraconazole or the interacting drugs.
Important Drug Interactions for the Antibiotic Azithromycin
July 2020
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antibiotic azithromycin (ZITHROMAX) should be aware that it has clinically important dangerous interactions with many other prescription medications.
Important Drug Interactions for the Antibiotic Clarithromycin
April 2020
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antibiotic clarithromycin (BIAXIN XL) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
Commonly Used Oral Drugs That Can Cause Eye Problems; First of a Two-Part Series
December 2019
In this first of a two-part series, we review some of the many commonly prescribed medications that can damage your eyes and the steps that you can take to protect yourself from these adverse effects. The second part in this series will appear in our February 2020 issue.
Potentially Dangerous Interactions Between Erectile Dysfunction Drugs and Other Medications
July 2019
Find out about the many prescription medications that can interact in dangerous ways with the four drugs approved by the FDA for treating erectile dysfunction in men.
Taking These Medications With Grapefruit Can Be Dangerous!
June 2019
Read about the many prescription drugs that can interact in dangerous ways with grapefruit or grapefruit products.
Preventing Heat-Induced Death and Illness
June 2018
This article lists practical steps to take to avoid death, hospitalization or other medical problems caused by heat stress. It also identifies over 100 drugs that can impair your response to heat and thereby increase your risk of heat-induced illness and death.
Drug-Induced Movement Disorders
February 2018
Abnormal involuntary movements (movement disorders) occur as adverse events associated with many widely used medications and can cause substantial hardship for affected individuals. Find out which drugs are associated with these adverse effects.
Prostate Drugs Increase Risks of Falls, Fractures
June 2016
Symptoms of benign (noncancerous) prostate enlargement afflict most men age 60 or older. In this article, we discuss new research showing that a group of drugs often used to treat this condition slightly increase the risk of falls and fractures. We offer important advice on how to minimize these risks.
Drugs That Cause Loss of Bladder Control
February 2016
Urinary incontinence, or loss of bladder control, is a common and often embarrassing problem that can have a huge impact on quality of life. Find out which drugs can cause this problem.
Anticholinergics May Increase Dementia Risk in Elderly
August 2015
Learn about recent evidence suggesting that anticholinergic drugs — which include many antidepressants, antihistamines and overactive bladder control medications — may increase the risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia in the elderly.
New Study Reveals Many Patients at Risk for Dangerous Alcohol-Drug Interactions
July 2015
Recent research revealed that many patients consume alcohol while using drugs that may can cause dangerous side effects when combined with alcohol. Read this article to learn about the many ways alcohol can adversely interact with prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Inappropriate Prescribing of Medicines in the Elderly: A Persistent Problem
March 2013
Approximately 20 percent of prescriptions for elderly patients in primary care settings are inappropriate, leading to adverse reactions that are entirely preventable. The article lists some of the most common inappropriately prescribed drugs.
Preventing Heat-Induced Death and Illness
June 2012
This article lists practical steps to take to avoid death, hospitalization or other medical problems caused by heat stress. It also contains a list of 123 drugs that can impair your response to heat.
Do Not Use 5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors for Enlarged Prostate
October 2011
Treatment for enlarged prostate is not always required. Find out which family of drugs is best should treatment be needed.
Dutasteride (AVODART) to Prevent Prostate Cancer
June 2011
Find out why a drug widely used to treat prostate enlargement should not be used to prevent prostate cancer.
Alpha-Blockers for Prostate Enlargement: Some Important Drug Interactions
June 2009
Taking alpha-blockers in combination with drugs for erectile dysfunction and with other drugs can cause dizziness and fainting. In this article we will discuss alfuzosin (UROXATRAL), doxazosin (CARDURA), tamsulosin (FLOMAX) and terazosin (HYTRIN) and drugs with which they can have harmful interactions.
Drug-Induced Eye Toxicity: 62 Drugs That Can Cause Eye Disease
April 2008
This article, based on a recent review in Drug Safety, lists 62 prescription drugs that can cause eye disease. The range of drug-induced eye diseases includes diseases of the eyelids, glaucoma, cataracts, retinal damage and optic nerve damage. As is true for drug-induced diseases in other parts of the body, you should consider newly developed eye symptoms beginning shortly after starting a new medication to be possibly drug-induced and consult a physician.
Internet-Sold Dietary Supplements For Erectile Dysfunction May Endanger Users
October 2006
The FDA analysis found that some of these products illegally contained sildenafil (VIAGRA), which is FDA-approved for erectile dysfunction. Others contained chemicals similar to sildenafil.
Older Adults Not Getting the Most Effective Drugs For High Blood Pressure
January 2001
“You, or at least many of your colleagues, have failed to provide optimal care to your patients with high blood pressure.” This stinging critique of physician prescribing practices starts off an editorial in the Journal of General Internal Medicine for October 2000 that commented on a Harvard Medical School study of high blood pressure in older adults that appeared in the same issue.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC CITIZEN
Testimony before the Food and Drug Administration's Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee on apetition to relabel doxazosin (Cardura). (HRG Publication #1575)
As physicians being asked by patients to recommend drugs for the treatment of hypertension, it would be highly unlikely for you or for me, knowing what we now know, to recommend an alpha blocker such as Cardura as a first choice drug. More likely, we would relegate it to a fourth or lower choice drug, only after adequate trials of diuretics, beta blockers, or ACE inhibitors, alone and in combination, had been tried without success.