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Older patients are especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of thiazide diuretics, including renal-electrolyte disturbances, gout, hyperglycemia, and hypotension. Researchers used a Veterans Affairs (VA) database to determine the prevalence of hyponatremia, hypokalemia, and renal dysfunction associated with thiazide therapy in an older population: They compared 1060 hypertensive patients (age, ≥65) who were new users of thiazide monotherapy with 1060 propensity-matched hypertensive controls who did not receive thiazides or other antihypertensive drugs. All patients had normal serum sodium and potassium levels at baseline. Because none of the patients had Medicare claims during follow-up, all of their healthcare presumably was obtained t…