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Previous studies have suggested that many elderly patients who take diuretics would do fine without them. This study assessed what proportion of these patients could be safely withdrawn from diuretics.
Dutch researchers randomized 202 patients aged 65 or over who took diuretics for at least six months to placebo (withdrawal group) or continued diuretic treatment (control group). Initial indications for diuretics included heart failure, hypertension, and edema. However, patients with overt heart failure or hypertension were excluded, as were those who took more than 80 mg per day of furosemide or who required hospitalization or intravenous diuretics for heart failure. Patients who developed symptoms of heart failure, or who had blood pressure…