Assessment of the effects of alpha- and beta-blockade in hypertensive patients who smoke cigarettes

A 24-week, crossover, comparison study was conducted to observe the effects of alpha-blockade with prazosin and beta-blockade with propranolol on blood pressure and plasma lipoprotein levels in 15 hypertensive cigarette smokers. Before treatment, mean sitting blood pressure was 140100 mm Hg and rose to 147105 mm Hg after the patients smoked two cigarettes. Treatment with prazosin and propranolol lowered sitting blood pressure to 12789 mm Hg and 12991 mm Hg, respectively (not significant), and did not alter the pressor response to smoking. The total cholesterol level at baseline was 207.3 ± 11.0 mg/dl. This increased to 210.5 ± 10.2 mg/dl with propranolol treatment and decreased to 201.0 ± 11.1 mg/dl with prazosin treatment. The low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was 132.5 ± 8.1 mg/dl at baseline, 136.9 ± 8.3 mg/dl with propranolol treatment, and 129.4 ± 9.0 mg/dl with prazosin treatment (0.05

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