LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Atenolol: Blood Pressures
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Atenolol is a beta-adrenergic blocking agent. It blocks the action of the sympathetic nervous system, a portion of the involuntary nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system stimulates the pace of the heart beat. By blocking the action of these nerves, this medicament reduces the heart rate and is useful in treating abnormally rapid heart rhythms. Atenolol ... reduces the force of heart muscle contraction and lowers blood pressure. By reducing the heart rate and the force of muscle contraction, it reduces heart muscle oxygen demand.
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Atenolol is compatible with diuretics and other hypotensive agents. In refractory cases a further reduction of blood pressure may be achieved by combining atenolol with other antihypertensive agents for example, co-administration of a diuretic.
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SIDE EFFECTS: Atenolol is generally well tolerated, and side effects are mild and transient. Rare side effects include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, insomnia, nausea, depression, dreaming, memory loss, fever, impotence, lightheadedness, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, numbness, tingling, cold extremities, sore throat, and shortness of breath or wheezing.
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Atenolol was well tolerated with minimum side effects. It lowered supine and standing, systolic and diastolic blood pressures in all the patients in a single daily dose. Patients who were not controlled with atenolol 50 mg were controlled with atenolol 100 mg or atenolol 100 mg plus chlorthalidone 25 mg. Due to the small number of patients in each subgroup, it is difficult to draw firm conclusion about the efficacy of the combination of atenolol and chlorthalidone versus atenolol alone.
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