New drug may help people with uncontrolled high blood pressure

Experimental drug could finally give hope to millions uncontrolled high blood pressurea new study found.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association found that patients who took the drug vaxdrostat daily had lower blood pressure than those who took a placebo. could be reduced significantly. meeting on Monday. A new type of oral drug works by targeting hormones that regulate the amount of salt in the body.

around it 10 million people Morris, co-author of the study and professor of endocrine hypertension at Queen Mary University of London, who has the type of hypertension that increases the risk of stroke and heart attack in the United States but does not respond to available medications. Dr. Brown said: , told NBC News.

Overall, 20% to 30% of adults experience it. high blood pressure, Brown said in an email. Uncontrolled hypertension accounts for 5% to 10% of all hypertensive patients.

The reason some people don’t get help from commonly used medications is that their high blood pressure is primarily caused by a hormone called aldosterone, which controls the amount of salt retained in the body. Braun said it’s difficult to reduce aldosterone directly because aldosterone is similar to the essential hormone cortisol. avoid the problem.

To test the safety and efficacy of various doses of baxdrostat, Brown and his colleagues determined that blood pressure of at least 130/80 mmHg despite taking at least three antihypertensive drugs. We recruited 274 patients in the United States.

Hypertension is diagnosed when the blood pressure is 130/80 and is considered “elevated” when the systolic reading is between 120 and 129 mm Hg. The normal range is below 120/80 mm Hg.

Participants in the phase 2 trial received one of three doses of the new drug or placebo along with the drug they were already taking. systolic blood pressure — Top numbers in majors — Drop an insane 20 points during the study. Surprisingly, even the placebo-treated patients saw an 11-point reduction.

The significant improvement in placebo patients was likely due to them being more cautious about taking other drugs, Brown said.

“There’s always the possibility that people weren’t taking all the pills every day,” he added. .”

The new drug also appeared safe in trials.

“In this study, we found no symptoms that differed from the placebo effect, but apart from a few patients’ dizziness when their blood pressure dropped, they also had elevated potassium levels in two patients.” High could cause heart rhythm problems, but “no subject failed to complete the study due to elevated potassium.”

Many people with resistant hypertension now have to accept the consequences of an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and heart failure.

Not only did the study prove that the drug lowered blood pressure, but higher doses lowered blood pressure even more, says cardiologist Joanna Contreras, PhD. He, director of the Ambulatory Heart Failure Network at the Mount Sinai Health System Network in New York City, was not involved in the study. “And only once a day, which is great.”

It is unclear when the drug will be approved by the FDA.

Donald Lloyd-Jones, Ph.D., chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and immediate past president of the American Heart Association, said the results of the clinical trial suggested the drug “deserves further investigation.” I’m here. It has a pretty big impact and looks promising.

There is already a drug called spironolactone aimed at reducing the effects of aldosterone by the same pathway, said Lloyd-Jones, who was not involved in the study. He added that although effective, it has side effects.

If this is successful in a Phase 3 trial, it “could be an important addition” to the list of drugs we currently have, said Lloyd-Jones. But we definitely need more data.”

Nathaniel Smilowitz, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in NYU Langone Health’s Leon H. Charney Department of Cardiology, said the study was “important because it represents a new target for antihypertensive therapy.” Smilowitz was not involved in the research.

Still, even if it’s approved, it’s primarily for people with uncontrolled high blood pressure.For other patients, there are cheaper alternatives, Smilowitz said.