§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what evidence is available to him of adverse side effects of diuretics; and what advice is given to doctors concerning their use.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the possible side effects of diuretic drugs; what information has been given to doctors about these; how many people are prescribed such drugs; and when the relevant Medical Research Council study will be completed.
§ Dr. Vaughan[pursuant to his reply, 27 July 1981]: Diuretics may cause adverse effects in some patients, and over time a wide range have been reported in association with the drugs within this group. The majority are minor and resolve quickly when treatment is discontinued (for example, skin rash, gastro-intestinal effects, headache, dizziness). Other well-documented effects included raised levels of potassium, blood sugar and uric acid. Impotence is known to occur with a few diuretic drugs and with others used in the treatments of high blood pressure; it has been suggested, more recently, that most of the widely-used diuretic agents may cause impotence in some patients.
Advice about these and other possible side effects is available to doctors in the relevant product data sheets and in professional literature. No statistics are available from which a reliable estimate can be made of the number of individuals treated with diuretics. The number of prescriptions for this group of drugs, dispensed by the general pharmaceutical services, for the first 11 months of 1980 (the latest figures available) was 17,868,000.
I understand that the Medical Research Council's study of hypertension is not expected to be completed until the end of 1984.