A comparative study on the effect of atenolol and labetalol on exercise capacity and lipid serum levels in essential hypertension.

Exercise performance was examined in 30 hypertensive subjects (mean age 43.2 +/- 5.4 years) in WHO group I-II, allocated to placebo, atenolol and labetalol treatment during a 3 X 12 weeks' exercise training period. Total work did not show any differences between the placebo and the two treatment periods. Compared to placebo, total cholesterol was reduced by 4.6% (p less than 0.04) in the labetalol and 3.1% (NS) in the atenolol period. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly reduced both at rest (p less than 0.01) and during exercise (p less than 0.01) in the two drug treatment periods compared to placebo.