A triple-pill drug just introduced to the market, may revolutionize hypertension treatment worldwide for the better, after a clinical trial has declared it safe and effective.
Researchers from the George Institute for Global Health — in Australia, — tested the effectiveness and safety of the triple-pill for the treatment of high blood pressure, (hypertension).
Nicknamed the “triple pill” it combines low doses of three existing drugs for blood pressure. The drugs are telmisartan (20 milligrams), amlodipine (2.5 milligrams), and chlorthalidone (12.5 milligrams).
High blood pressure is a serious illness and borders on being a world-wide epidemic. Indeed, over 1 billion people have high blood pressure.
It is a major risk factor for both heart disease and stroke, making it a priority to have effective treatments in place for its regulation.
Courtesy: medindia.net
Triple-Pill: Clinical Trial Results
The current medical protocol for hypertension patients is to start taking one blood pressure drug at low doses. The problem is the patient often hits a plateau and must return to the doctor to get a higher dose prescription. This can happen several times, as higher doses and additional hypertension drugs are added.
This approach is time inefficient and costly. Consequently, many patients go off the drug protocol regimen.
So, the researchers came up with the triple-pill which combines fixed low doses of three already existent drugs commonly used to treat hypertension.
The clinical trial tested 700 participants — average age 56, whose average blood pressure was a dangerously high 154/90.
The results showed that the triple-pill significantly reduced blood pressure, lowering it to 140/90. The blood pressure reduction in the second group was minimal.
70 percent of the triple-pill group hit their target blood pressure. But only between 45 to 55 percent of the group taking the traditional drug protocol, did so.
Conclusion
Researchers at the George Institute are working on making the drug available across the world at affordable prices.
Watch this video as Dr. Patel explains the ramifications of the triple-pill on world-wide health:
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