New blood pressure pill breakthrough
A NEW pill that significantly improves the control of high blood pressure could help millions of people reduce their chances of having a stroke or heart attack, a trial has found.
A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association yesterday found that the treatment enabled 27% more people bring their blood pressure down to acceptable levels.
High blood pressure is the leading cause of death and heart disease around the world and the team said this drug could be a low-cost way to help people in low and middle income coun- tries where it’s needed the most.
The drug combines three medications f or high blood pressure (hypertension) at low doses and showed significant improvements over the current single-drug system.
“This study has global relevance,” said Professor Anushka Patel, from the George Institute, University of New South Wales, Australia, who led the trial.
“While the most pressing need, from the perspective of the global burden of disease, is low and middle income countries, it’s equally relevant in a country like Australia where we’re still achieving only 40% to 50% control rates for high blood pressure.”
The trial followed 700 patients in Sri Lanka with high blood pressure and randomly allocated patients to receive either their doctor’s choice of blood pressure medication or the tri- ple pill. This included the medications telmisartan, amlodipine and chlorthalidone at lower doses than they would be given on a single medication.
After six months, 70% of patients given the triple pill had brought their blood pressure down to the target level, compared to 55% of patients on their doctor’s recommended medication.
While there were slightly higher rates of side effects reported on the triple pill, chiefly dizziness, there was no significant difference in the number of patients who withdrew from the medication.
The process also freed up doctor and patient time and lowered health system costs.