Reducing heart attack, stroke risks

Measuring blood pressure in a doctor’s clinic alone does not provide an accurate picture of a patient’s blood pressure control. Treatments based only on this basis are likely to open many patients to increasing risk of heart attack, stroke or even cardiovascular risks.

This was shown by data recently presented at the Annual European Society of Hypertension in Milan, Italy.

The results of the hypertension study of blood pressure control in the early morning showed that more than 60 percent of patients do not have controlled blood pressure in the morning and blood pressure peaks over a 24-hour period.

Prof. Gianfranco Parati, University of Mlano-Bicocca, Italy, study chairman, said, “The study is noteworthy because it illustrates that in a real life setting, despite receiving treatment, a large number of patients still have poorly controlled hypertension, especially in their early morning hours.”

“It also highlights the challenges physicians face in getting an accurate picture of blood pressure as home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) and even more so, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) cannot be implemented routinely in every patient in daily practice. What we really need are reliable therapies that provide consistent control over a full 24-hour period,” he added.

According to a further study of a hypertension population treated with telmisartan, this unnecessary risk could be avoided by choosing a treatment regimen like once daily telmisartan, which provides smooth blood pressure control over a full 24-hour period, including the risky morning hours.

In this study, morning blood pressure was significantly reduced by telmisartan alone and in combination with HCTI, almost doubling the number of patients with controlled blood pressure from 36.5 percent to 64.4 percent after eight weeks of treatment.

Also, the 24-hour blood pressure was reduced with telmisartan alone and in combination with HCTZ.

Parati said, “The results from the second study are particularly encouraging. They demonstrate that, unlike many other antihypertensive treatments, in telmistran we have a treatment option that does provide smooth blood pressure control from morning to morning. This is expected to lead to prevention of heart attacks, strokes and even cardiovascular death.”

Telmisartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), is being investigated in the most ambitious and far-reaching research program ever conducted with an ARB.

In the ongoing three clinical trial program, over 58,000 patients have been enrolled to investigate the cardiovascular protective effects of telmisartan.

Telmisartan was discovered and developed by Boehringer Ingelheim, which markets it in 84 countries, including the United States, Japan and European markets.