New Blood Pressure Drugs

A Canadian led study is shedding new light on how to best control high blood pressure, with fewer side effects.

Incredibly, only 16% of those diagnosed have their blood pressure under control and it’s a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.

A new study involving more than 25,000 people with high blood pressure shows a newer therapy is better tolerated by patients, which means they’re more likely to stay on it.

The current standard of treatment for high-risk patients is an ACE inhibitor known as ramipril. It’s effective at lowering blood pressure and preventing heart attacks and strokes, but it comes with an annoying side-effect.

A dry, persistent cough is recorded in about 20-30% of patients taking rampiril, according to cardiologist Dr. Peter Giannoccaro.

“It was terribly disruptive, it kept them up in the middle of the night, they got muscle aches from coughing so much. Indeed, it was enough to stop the therapy,” he says.

The ONTARGET study showed that a newer drug, called telmisartan, was just as effective at preventing future heart troubles, but didn’t cause a cough, or swelling of throat and airways.

“Now, we’ve got a new agent that we can use as an option if people can’t tolerate the original. Hopefully, that improved patient compliance will translate into better outcomes in the long term,” says Dr. Giannoccaro.

Surprisingly, the study showed combining the two medications together didn’t give the patients an added benefit. Instead, it actually lowered blood pressure too much.

The study is published on-line at http://www.nejm.org.