MELBOURNE: A new ultra-low dose four-in-one pill has been found to be 100 per cent effective at tackling high blood pressure, according to the results of a clinical trial published in The Lancet journal.
Every patient on the pilot trial conducted by The George Institute for Global Health in Australia saw their blood levels drop to normal levels in just four weeks.
Recognising the need to check whether trial results were “too good to be true”, the researchers also completed a systematic review of past trials, including 36 trials with 47,500 patients testing single and dual quarter-dose therapy.
This previous evidence also indicated little or no side effects with very low doses, and important benefits with three or four drug combinations.
Professor Clara Chow, of The George Institute, said the results were exciting but larger trials were still needed to see if these high rates could be maintained and repeated.
“Most people receive one medicine at a normal dose but that only controls blood pressure about half the time. In this small trial blood pressure control was achieved for everyone. Trials will now test whether this can be repeated and maintained long-term,” Chow said.
“Minimising side effects is important for long-term treatments – we didn’t see any issues in this trial, as you would hope with very low dose therapy, but this is the area where more long-term research is most needed. (AGENCIES)
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