Men should try combination therapy for urinary tract symptoms

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Combination therapy works better than single drug for male urinary tract symptoms according to a clinical trial.
Overactive bladder, characterized by increased urinary frequency day and night, is quite common among older men. Other urinary symptoms that may occur include hesitancy and weak urinary stream. There are various medications which can be used to treat these symptoms, but they are not always effective.

A team at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, now reports upon a trial of two medications - tolterodine extended-release and tamsulosin - used either in combination or alone. Groups of around 200 men received either placebo, one of the two medications alone, or a combination for 12 weeks. Eighty per cent of those on the combination reported improvement by the end of the trial. This was compared to 62 per cent on placebo, 65 per cent on tolterodine and 71 per cent on tamsulosin. The findings suggest that combination therapy might be worth trying for men troubled with urinary symptoms, even if one of the drugs alone didn't lead to a response.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 15th November 2006 Volume 196 pages 2319-2328

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