Scientists find a potential game-changer for high blood pressure treatment

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The Promise of Quadpill

Researchers from The George Institute for Global Health have discovered that treating high blood pressure with a special tablet called “quadpill” is not only more effective than usual care but is also similar in cost.

The quadpill is a tablet containing very small amounts of four common, low-cost medicines used for blood pressure.

The research team used economic models to examine the clinical results from an earlier trial called QUARTET. They also looked at the current costs of medicines and health care appointments in Australia.

Dr. Emily Atkins, the main researcher at The George Institute for Global Health, said the findings were important.

In Australia, the treatment for high blood pressure hasn’t improved much, which means there’s a chance to do better and prevent needless deaths and illnesses.

The High Blood Pressure Problem in Australia

One in three adults in Australia has high blood pressure, which puts them at risk for several long-term diseases like heart disease, stroke, and chronic kidney disease.

According to a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, only one-third of high blood pressure cases were under control in 2017-2018.

That means over two-thirds of Australians with high blood pressure weren’t getting the proper care. And this problem hasn’t improved for the past ten years.

Cost and Benefits of Quadpill

In the study, the researchers looked at the cost of care for 591 adults with high blood pressure. These adults, who were either not treated or were given one type of treatment, were chosen from ten clinics in Australia from 2017 to 2020.

Half of them started their treatment with the quadpill, while the other half started with one normal-dose drug for lowering blood pressure.

The research team studied the costs and benefits of lifetime treatment with both approaches. They figured out the estimated costs of medications and the expected number of heart-related events in both groups.

They found that using the quadpill would likely be cost-effective for the Australian health system in a range of scenarios and for different types of patients.

The average cost per person at 12 weeks in the quadpill group was $342, and in the single-drug group, it was $277—a difference of $65.

When compared to usual care, the improved blood pressure control in the quadpill group was predicted to decrease the lifetime chances of heart attack and stroke, costing about $14,000 per extra healthy life year.

The researchers found that the quadpill would likely be cheaper and more effective than usual care, especially for people with medium or high risk of heart disease.

Dr. Atkins said, “We found that the greatest benefit of the quadpill is in comparison to usual care. Many patients are not getting the most effective blood pressure control because they are not being moved onto combination therapy.”

The study also factored in the savings expected from Australia’s new 60-day dispensing policy for blood pressure medications, which starts in September.

Dr. Atkins added, “If we extend this to a model for 90-day dispensing, the cost-effectiveness of a quadpill would drop further to about $2,000 per extra healthy life year.

And if a quadpill were available for less than 45 cents a day, it would lead to further savings and be more effective than usual care.

“Although the quadpill isn’t made yet, we know from the QUARTET study that this strategy significantly improves high blood pressure control, the main cause of heart attack and stroke, compared to usual treatment,” Dr. Atkins said.

She concluded, “Our study strongly suggests that a quadpill could be a promising treatment option to help Australians with high blood pressure control their condition and reduce their risk of further health issues in a cost-effective way.

The strategy of treating with a quadpill from the start also challenges the usual way of doing things and could change clinical guidelines and practice.”

If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about a common and unrecognized cause of high blood pressure, and this small habit can greatly benefit people with high blood pressure, and cholesterol.

For more information about high blood pressure, please see recent studies about more efficient ways to treat high blood pressure, and potatoes and high blood pressure: what you need to know.

The study was published in Heart.

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