Millions of high blood pressure sufferers could benefit from a major breakthrough, as the first ever jab can replace their daily medication.
British medics have been trialling a world-first injection to control the “silent killer” condition, which is a leading cause of strokes and heart attacks.
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Millions of Brits are currently taking daily medications to control their blood-pressure.
Experts at Queen Mary University of London are conducting a six-month trial of an injection.
Zilebesiran, a medication made in the US by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals targets a hormone that is produced by your liver.
Researchers studied 107 people with hypertension. Of these, 80 received a zibebesiran injection under the skin while 32 patients were treated with a non-active placebo.
The placebo group included 32 patients. Five were treated with zilebesiran.
In the initial analyses, volunteers treated with zilebesiran showed a marked drop in blood pressure systolic that lasted for six months. MailOnline reports.
At least 200mg of the drug, your systolic (or arterial) blood pressure is lower by 10mmHg. This drops to 20mmHg for the 800mg maximum.
This can bring a high blood pressure patient into a more comfortable range.
Heart disease and stroke are primarily caused by high blood pressure.
The silent killer is so named because it’s often hard to detect the signs until the disease is already too advanced.
Under NHS rules, it is a reading over 140/90mmHg – with around 12 million people eligible for treatment.
The medication zilebesiran resulted in an overall drop of blood pressure over the course of 24 hours, despite high blood-pressure fluctuating throughout the day.
Zilebesiran is an anti-angiotensin hormone. Angiotensin narrows blood vessel and increases blood pressure.
Reporting their preliminary data, the research group said: “Overall, these preliminary data… support the potential for further study of quarterly or twice-yearly administration of zilebesiran as a treatment for patients with hypertension.”
David Webb added that the Edinburgh trial was a “potentially major development” in the field of hypertension. In the past 17 years, there hasn’t been a drug class approved for treating high blood pressure.
After a single treatment, this novel method results in a significant drop in blood-pressure levels, day or night. This reduction lasts around six months.
Heart disease and stroke are primarily caused by high blood pressure.
The silent killer is so named because it’s often hard to detect the signs until the disease is already too advanced.
Under NHS rules, it is a reading over 140/90mmHg – with around 12 million people eligible for treatment.
The pressure on the arterial walls can damage other organs. Complications include vision loss, dementia and heart failure.
The NHS states that in about 1/20 cases high blood pressure is caused by an underlying condition or a medicine.
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