ACE inhibitors can cause deadly, sudden swelling of the face and neck
Could these be the most dangerous drugs there are?
Yesterday I warned you about a high blood pressure drug called Benicar. FDA researchers discovered that those with diabetes who take a high dose of this drug for over 6 months are twice as likely to die. They said Benicar should not be taken by diabetics.
But what I’m warning you about today is even more frightening…if that’s possible.
It’s about another — very common — class of blood pressure drugs, the ones called ACE inhibitors.
And it’s something that even your doctor may not have heard about.
Because when you’re taking an ACE inhibitor, even for years, things can suddenly turn deadly. And it can all happen with lightning speed.
It’s vitally important that you know what to watch out for and what to do. Because if this happens to you, “minutes matter.”
Dr. James Roberts calls the sudden, life-threatening side effect people can get from these drugs an “unrecognized epidemic.” He’s the director of emergency medicine at two hospitals in Philadelphia.
And in his hospitals alone they are seeing several cases a week.
He’s talking about something called “angioedema.” Put simply, that means a sudden swelling in the face and neck.
It’s more than just uncomfortable or annoying. Because if your tongue and throat start to swell too, you can die.
And there are no medications that will reverse this swelling. It just has to go down on its own.
In a worst case scenario ER doctors must insert a tube in a patient’s nose or mouth. Sometimes they even need to cut an incision in the throat to prevent suffocation. And Dr. Roberts says that he’s seen a number of patients die “because you just can’t get the tube in.”
Dr. Roberts is desperately trying to alert others about this danger.
He recently had a letter published in a professional journal warning colleagues. And, he wants the FDA to put a “black box” warning on these meds so that the millions who take them will know about the risk.
But Dr. Roberts might as well be fighting windmills.
Over 12 years ago, a Boston University ER doctor, James Feldman, sent a formal petition into the FDA saying the same thing. He said these dangerous drugs must have a big black box warning to alert patients.
He sent that petition to the FDA after seeing three cases in just one week. And one of his patients “almost died,” he said.
But he was turned down.
And now, it looks like that black box warning is needed more than ever.
Because presently, twice as many patients are being hospitalized due to sudden swelling from taking these drugs.
Some doctors say that they will always “intubate” (insert a breathing tube) because things can turn deadly very quickly.
Dr. Feldman says that the black box warning is absolutely needed to raise awareness — not just for patients, but also for other doctors who may not realize the danger.
“Not only do patients not know about this,” Dr. Feldman said, “but they don’t know what to do about it.”
“They’ll wait until the last minute to get help. Instead, they should be carefully instructed: If you have swelling, stop the drug and call 911, because minutes can matter,” he said.
People have reported having just a small amount of neck or facial swelling, and then a short time later, their airways were closing.
And as I said, there is no medication that can reverse it. That’s why Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is conducting a clinical trial to see if a new drug they are studying can be used as an antidote.
But even if it does work, it has side effects of its own — and it cost $10,000 a shot.
All of which can make these drugs a very tragic way to “cure” high blood pressure.
Sources:
“ACE inhibitor blood-pressure drugs can have a severe side effect” Marie McCullough, The Philadelphia Inquirer, articles.philly.com<br>
