Furosemide Compared With Hydrochlorothiazide-Reply

In Reply.— Dettelbach and Bennett claim that we made categorical and statements concerning the superiority of hydrochlorothiazide as an antihypertensive agent. The actual statements in the abstract were as follows: Both hydrochlorothiazide and furosemide significantly reduced BP during three months of therapy. However, the fall in BP was consistently greater with hydrochlorothiazide than with furosemide, although the difference was significant only with respect to systolic BP. We do not consider these statements to be either sweeping or categorical. We also did not downplay the difference in serum potassium levels. The lesser fall in serum potassium level with furosemide was called attention to in both the Results and Comment sections. However, in explanation we referred to Degnbol et al, 1 who found a linear relationship between dosage, BP fall, and reduction in serum potassium levels with various diuretics. Since these variables are interrelated, the diuretic with the greater antihypertensive effectiveness