title: Efficacy and safety of acarbose in the treatment of elderly patients with postprandial hypotension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postprandial hypotension (PPH) occurs frequently in elderly people and may lead to syncope, falls, dizziness, weakness, angina pectoris, and stroke. Some studies suggest that the magnitude of the postprandial fall in blood pressure (BP) is influenced by the rate at which glucose enters the small intestine. We hypothesized that acarbose (alpha-glucosidase inhibitor), a hypoglycemic agent that decreases the rate of glucose absorption in the small intestine, would attenuate PPH in the elderly, and would be safe in the treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three elderly in-patients with PPH were recruited. All of them were in relatively stable conditions. They had semi-liquid standard meals without and with acarbose for the two following days: screening day and intervention day. Blood pressure and heart rate (HR) were recorded at baseline and every 15 minutes for 120 minutes using a non-invasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring system during the study, and ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) were measured by two dimensional echocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the screening day, the falls in systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure (SBP, DBP, MAP) (all P < 0.05) were significantly attenuated after taking acarbose during breakfast, so were MAP (P < 0.05) during lunch, DBP (P < 0.05) and MAP (P < 0.05) during supper. The change of HR was not statistically significant after taking acarbose in three meals. EF and FS were positively correlated with the relief rate. The effective power was 63%, and the incidence of adverse drug reaction (ADR) was 9%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acarbose is effective and safe in the treatment of elderly patients with PPH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Second Xiangya Hospital Affiliated to the Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China. jianzaijin@163.com
authors.forename: Zai-jin
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Jian
authors.forename: Bai-yu
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D020909:Acarbose / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007022:Hypotension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D019518:Postprandial Period / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D020909:Acarbose