Guidelines for managing patients with high blood pressure may need to be reviewed after a study showing patients on a newer treatment regime are at significantly reduced risk of suffering from stroke or heart attack.
The findings follow a study of more than 19,000 men and women with high blood pressure in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Scandinavia. To control their blood pressure, they received either the newer drugs amlodipine and perindopril, or a traditional combination of a beta-blocker atenolol and a diuretic. In addition, half the group were given a cholesterol-lowering drug.
The final results, published online by the Lancet, showed the combination of the newer blood-pressure-lowering drugs reduced the risk of strokes by about 25 per cent, heart attacks by 15 per cent, cardiovascular deaths by 25 per cent and new cases of diabetes by 30 per cent compared with the standard treatment. The cholesterol-lowering drug, atrovastatin, reduced the risk further.
As a result of the reductions in heart attacks and strokes in patients receiving the newer treatment, the study was terminated early last year so all patients could benefit.
The authors of the study, the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (Ascot), concluded international recommendations for managing high blood pressure may need to be reviewed. They suggested most patients with high blood pressure should be considered for a cholesterol-lowering drug.
They emphasised patients taking beta-blockers and diuretics should not discontinue their treatment. They should discuss the implications of Ascot with their physicians before considering a change.
Some 531 Irish patients were involved in the study and were recruited through Dublin's Beaumont Hospital. An estimated 700,000 Irish people are being treated for high blood pressure.