Blood Pressure drugs: Researchers have developed an online calculator that estimates how much a patient’s blood pressure will fall on specific medicines and doses, potentially allowing doctors to tailor treatment to individual needs.
The Blood Pressure Treatment Efficacy Calculator, described in The Lancet, was built by a team including scientists from The George Institute for Global Health in Australia and India after analysing nearly 500 published trials covering over 100,000 participants.
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The tool lets clinicians choose regimens according to the mmHg reduction required and labels each plan as low, moderate or high intensity based on the predicted drop. “Every 1 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure lowers the risk of a heart attack or stroke by about 2%,” said author Nelson Wang, a cardiologist and research fellow at The George Institute, noting the complexity of choices across dozens of drugs, multiple doses, and frequent combination therapy.
Across the trials reviewed, a single drug at a standard dose reduced systolic pressure by an average of 8.7 mmHg; doubling the dose added roughly 1.5 mmHg more. A two-drug combination at standard doses lowered systolic pressure by about 15 mmHg, with doubling both doses yielding an additional 2.5 mmHg fall. Because many patients need 15–30 mmHg reductions to hit targets, the authors say optimising combinations may be more effective than simply escalating a single drug.
The model was validated against external trials involving dual and triple antihypertensive combinations. Researchers said the next step is to test the calculator in clinical settings to confirm real-world performance and impact on outcomes.
(Source: The Lancet)
