Category: Hypertension

Patients with high blood pressure respond very differently to antihypertensive medication, making treatment selection tricky for physicians. But new research published in the online open access journal, BMC Medical Genetics, pinpoints a number of gene-drug interactions that could allow medication to be tailored to individual patients based on their genetics.

With equal access to medical care and medication, Hispanic men and women have as good or greater chance as non-Hispanics of controlling their high blood pressure, researchers reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.”Poor blood pressure control in Hispanics is not due to biological factors associated with race or ethnicity,” said Karen L. Margolis, M.D., M.P.H.

For high blood pressure patients, preventing or reducing enlarged heart (left ventricular hypertrophy or LVH) reduces risk of heart failure. The study is published in the Sept. 4 Annals of Internal Medicine and led by physician scientists at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. An estimated 20 percent of all high-blood pressure patients, or 12 million Americans, have LVH and are at increased risk of developing heart failure.

Vitamin D deficiency early in pregnancy is associated with a five-fold increased risk of preeclampsia, according to a study from the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The largest-ever study of treatments for type 2 diabetes has shown that a combination of two blood pressure lowering drugs reduced the risk of death, as well as the risks of heart and kidney disease. The ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease) Study was led by researchers at The George Institute for International Health in Sydney and the results have been presented at the European Congress of Cardiology in Vienna.

Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, announced that it has received final approval of amlodipine besylate tablets from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Distribution of the product will commence immediately. Amlodipine besylate tablets, the generic equivalent of Pfizer’s Norvasc(R) tablets, will be available in 2.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic versions of Coreg (carvedilol). Coreg is a widely used medication that is FDA-approved to treat high blood pressure, mild to severe chronic heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction following a heart attack. “The agency’s Office of Generic Drugs ensures that generic drugs are safe and effective through a rigorous scientific and regulatory process,” said Gary J. Buehler, director, FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs.

Vascular protection data presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s (ESC) 2007 Annual Congress in Vienna have shown that Daiichi-Sankyo’s angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB), olmesartan, can prevent and reverse atherosclerotic processes including: oxidative stress,1 endothelial inflammation,2 remodelling of cardiac vascular tissues,3,4 development of atherosclerotic lesions5 and reduction of large plaques.

Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) announced the results of a controlled clinical trial, published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, which demonstrated that nebivolol, a selective beta 1-blocker with vasodilating properties, significantly reduced sitting diastolic and systolic blood pressure among patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. The study - the first to evaluate the drug in a U.S.

Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) announced the results of a controlled clinical trial, published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, which demonstrated that nebivolol, a selective beta 1-blocker with vasodilating properties, significantly reduced sitting diastolic and systolic blood pressure among patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. The study the first to evaluate the drug in a U.S.