ALLHAT consists of two practice-based, randomized clinical trials containing patients aged 60 years and older who are broadly representative of the U.S. hypertensive population, including at least 55% African- Americans. The antihypertensive pharmacologic treatment trial will enroll 40,000 patients. Its purpose is to determine whether the combined incidence of fatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and non-fatal myocardial infarction differs between diuretic treatment and three alternative antihypertensive pharmacologic treatments (calcium antagonist, ACE inhibitor, and alpha blocker). Because of the established benefit of antihypertensive treatment in reduction of stroke, morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, and all-causes mortality, the trial will not include a placebo or no-treatment control group. The cholesterol-lowering treatment trial will enroll 20,000 of the 40,000 patients in the antihypertensive trial. Based on results of a screening blood lipid profile, moderately hypercholesterolemic men and women will be randomized to receive a cholesterol-lowering diet plus either an HMG CoA reductase inhibitor (pravastatin) or usual care. The purpose of the cholesterol-lowering trial is to determine whether lowering serum cholesterol with the 3-hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase inhibitor pravastatin will reduce all-cause mortality as compared to a control group receiving """"""""usual care"""""""".
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