Q: I am a male 51 years old and has been suggested LycoRed (Lycopene) made by Jagson Pal pharma. Earlier I used to take A to Z Zincovit but now my doctor has suggested Lycored. I want to know about the said medicine. I shall be thankful if you can provide me details. I have hypertension and taking Tenoclor-100 and Losar A twice daily. Recently, my doctor also told me that instead of Tenoclor 100 he wants me to switch to Seloken XL 100 because the latter has more benefits than Tenoclor. As both the medicines are fairly costly, I thought it prudent to ask for guidance, as you are very impartial and honest in your views.

A:LycoRed is the brand name of a product that contains lycopene 2000 mcg, vitamin A 2500 i.u., E 10 i.u., C 50 mg, zinc sulph. monohyd. 27.45 mg, selenium (as monohyd. dioxide) 70 mcg, per capsule. It is a potent antioxidant for use as adjunct in a variety of conditions and in prevention of many disorders. Basically it protects the body cells. One capsule a day is adequate in your case. I am a bit concerned with the use of Tenoclor and Losar-A for high blood pressure. Tenoclor is a combination product that contains two medicines: atenolol and chlorthalidone. Losar-A is also a combination product that contains losartan and amlodipine. Thus you are consuming four anti-BP medicines: atenolol, chlorthalidone, amlodipine and losartan even though you may think that you are taking just two medicines. Use of four drugs concurrently for controlling blood pressure is required in very few resistant cases. Besides more drugs you consume, more side effects will emerge if not immediately, then in due course as a result of prolonged use. As per globally accepted guidelines on the treatment of blood pressure in patients younger than 55 (like you, particularly sexually active males) first choice initial therapy should be enalapril (sold as Enam) 5-10 mg 1-2 times a day. If two drugs are required, then amlodipine (sold as Amlodac) 5 mg daily in the morning OR a diuretic such as metolazone (sold as Metoz) 2.5 mg in the morning should be added. If the blood pressure is still not controlled then treatment with three drugs may be required. These should be: enalapril, amlodipine (Amlodac) and Metoz. Atenolol (such as Tenoclor) and similar other agents such as propranolol (sold as Seloken XL) need to be avoided because they perform less well than other drugs and the increasing evidence that they carry an unacceptable risk of provoking diabetes. Moreover in sexually active males they can cause erectile dysfunction. Please keep in mind that atenolol (Tenoclor) and propranolol (such as Seloken XL) belong to the same group of drugs (called beta-blockers) and have similar mode of action and similar side effects. It is not scientifically correct to say that propranolol is better than atenolol; in fact reverse is more accurate.