“Unlike terazosin, tamsulosin (Flomax) does not have to be titrated and patients receive a therapeutically effective dose on day one,” commented Dr Perinchery Narayan, director of the North Florida Urology Association and principal author of the study.
“This study shows that tamsulosin works faster than terazosin in treating the symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate,” added Dr Narayan.
In the study, funded by Boehringer Ingelheim, 1,993 patients with enlarged prostates were randomized to receive tamsulosin or terazosin. Patients taking tamsulosin experienced a statistically and clinically significant improvement (25.3%) in symptoms after four days of treatment, which was not seen in patients who received terazosin (n=884, improvement: 18.1%).