When bad news surfaces, some people have a hard time accepting it. When researchers uncovered a link between a popular blood pressure pill and non-melanoma skin cancer, we got this message from a skeptical reader.
Don’t Denigrate Hydrochlorothiazide!
Q. I read on your website that hydrochlorothiazide is linked to skin cancer. Your alarmist piece will not cause me to hesitate in popping my HCTZ this morning. Its protective effects against heart disease and stroke far outweigh these findings, IF they have any truth to them.
You mentioned 100,000 mg of HCTZ. Get serious! Nobody takes that much.
What Is the Evidence Linking This Popular Blood Pressure Pill to Skin Cancer?
A. Danish researchers previously found a strong association between long-term use of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) and squamous cell cancer of the lip (Pottegard et al, Journal of Internal Medicine, Oct. 2017). Their most recent study reported that people who had taken a cumulative dose of at least 200,000 mg of HCTZ over many years were seven times more likely to be diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (Arnspang et al, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, online Dec. 3, 2017).
A case-control study like this one cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship. That would require a number of very large long-term experiments. But the Danish data is strong enough for us to take a second look at this popular blood pressure pill.
How Else Can You Manage Your Blood Pressure?
Controlling blood pressure is crucial for good health. There are, however, many ways to do so. We are sending you our Guide to Blood Pressure Treatment so you can explore some of the alternatives with your physician, if you wish. Some readers have assumed that all similar diuretic drugs, such as chlorthalidone, are also implicated. As we understand the research, the scientists looked for links between other blood pressure medication and found none.
