Assessment of Condenser-Humidifiers with Special Reference to a Multiple-gauze Model

Abstract

HYPERTENSION M3DICTIM;~~.&rON (average 5 months).In 14 of them the blood-pressure was maintained within reasonable limits.Treatment failed to lower the blood-pressure to any significant extent in two in-patients.Three out-patients became rapidly refractory to the hypotensive effect of methyldopa.Methyldopa was shown to be highly effective in the most severe cases of hypertension, but in some cases for only a short time.The average effective dose in moderate and severe hypertension was 1.5 g. of methyldopa.Thiazide diuretics potentiated the hypotensive action.The results obtained with guanethidine and methyldopa in the treatment of seven hypertensive patients are compared.It appeared that both drugs might be considered in the treatment of severe hypertension and that methyldopa was usually better tolerated.Our results as regards the urinary excretion of catecholamines and metanephrine did not show any parallelism between the inhibition of the biosynthesis of noradrenaline and the blood-pressure reduction.We are grateful to Professor A. De Schaepdrijver, of the department of pharmacology, University of Ghent, -for assaying the urinary catecholamines; and to Professor P. Demoor, of the