Washington (H24N). Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found that people with kidney disease were able to stave off kidney failure for longer periods of time using ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers than traditional calcium channel blockers.

ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers are in a class of medications known as antihypertensives. They each work to lower high blood pressure in a different ways. ACE inhibitors block an enzyme in the body that causes blood vessels to constrict, calcium channel blockers close off the passageways through which calcium enters and exits the cells and clog arteries and beta-blockers reduce the load on the heart.

Researchers made their discovery while conducting the African-American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASKH). So far, AASKH has enrolled 1,094 African-Americans at 21 centers around the country. Scheduled to conclude next fall, the study was designed to examine the factors that cause African-Americans to suffer from kidney failure at disproportionate rates.

NIH statistics show that although African-Americans only make up 12.6 percent of the population, they account for 29.8 percent of all people treated for kidney failure. Although doctors have been helping African-Americans get better control of their high blood pressure, thereby lowering rates of stroke and heart disease in the black community, the incidence of kidney failure continues to soar.

Both the ACE inhibitor ramipril or Altace and the beta-blocker metoprolol or Toprol were found to reduce the risk of kidney failure significantly, compared to the calcium channel blocker amlodipine or Norvasc. Calcium channel blockers have been the most popular choice for the treatment of high blood pressure. About 62 percent of all of the study’s participants were taking calcium channel blockers before they began the study.

The calcium channel blocker used in the study was found to be associated with increases in protein found in the urine. Protein increases have been linked to advancing kidney disease.

"This trial will have a tremendous effect on how we care for people," said Janice Douglas, MD, director of the hypertension division at Case Western Reserve. "What is most striking to me is the correlation between elevated urine protein and faster disease progression, something we can look forward to in all people with kidney disease."

Despite the new findings, Lawrence Agodoa, a kidney specialist and the director of AASKH warns patients not to throw away their calcium channel blocker medication without first working out another solution with their doctors.

"Calcium channel blockers are good for controlling high blood pressure, and patients are not in immediate risk," Agodoa said.

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