Q: I have high blood pressure and am taking Preterax 2mg one tablet daily for it. Is there any equivalent of this medicine available in India.

A:Preterex is the foreign brand name of a combination product that contains two medicines: perindopril 2mg and indapamide 0.625mg. At your age (32 year), an attempt should be made to control BP with life style changes i.e. reduction of weight to 65kg, daily exercise (brisk walk for 45 minutes to cover no less than 4.5 km) and restriction on salt, fat. In case this does not work then only one medicine such as an ACE inhibitor (perindopril, enalapril, lisinopril - all are similar) can be given such as enalapril sold under various brand names e.g. BQL, Enam (10 mg once or twice daily). A second medicine (such as indapamide sold under the brand name of Indicontin Continus) should be added if a single drug is found to be ineffective. Due to patent laws in western countries, minor changes are made to a medicine so that the manufacturer can charge monopoly prices for another 20 years. One does not have to follow the same system in developing countries to help manufacturers increase their profits without any benefit to the patients. In brief: Enalapril (BQL, Enam) 10 mg 1-2 times daily. Indapamide (Indicontin Continus) 1.5 mg to be added if enalapril alone is not effective. Life style changes is absolutely essential.