High blood pressure is a serious health problem that affects millions of people worldwide.
Most people with this condition take medication every day to manage it. But remembering to take a pill every day can be hard—more than half of patients struggle with this, which often leads to poorly controlled blood pressure.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and early death. That’s why there’s a need for easier and more effective treatment options.
A new drug called zilebesiran may be the answer. Created by researchers, including teams from the University of Edinburgh, this medication could change the way high blood pressure is treated. Zilebesiran is an injection that may only need to be given once every six months to lower blood pressure significantly.
In UK clinical trials, people who received zilebesiran saw large drops in their systolic blood pressure. This is the top number in a blood pressure reading and shows how much pressure is in the arteries when the heart beats.
People who got 200mg or more of the drug saw their systolic pressure drop by over 10 mmHg. The highest dose, 800mg, reduced pressure by more than 20 mmHg—enough to move many patients’ readings back into a safer range.
So, how does it work? Zilebesiran targets a hormone called angiotensin, which raises blood pressure by narrowing blood vessels. The drug works by going to the liver and blocking the production of angiotensinogen, the protein that becomes angiotensin.
It does this by turning off the gene that tells the body to make angiotensinogen, stopping the chain reaction that leads to high blood pressure.
The first study involved 107 people with high blood pressure. Of those, 80 received the new drug and the rest were given a placebo. The results were promising, and researchers now plan more studies to confirm the drug is safe and to better understand how it works over time.
Professor David Webb from the University of Edinburgh said this could be a major step forward. It has been 17 years since a new type of blood pressure medication was developed. He believes zilebesiran’s approach—only two shots a year—could help people stick to their treatment plans more easily.
Zilebesiran could be a huge breakthrough for people struggling to control their blood pressure. As scientists continue to test the drug, it offers new hope for easier and more reliable treatment options. It also shows how medical research continues to make progress, finding better ways to manage health conditions.
In the meantime, it’s still important to stay informed about all the things that affect blood pressure, like diet, exercise, stress, and hidden causes. Whether it’s new medications or healthy lifestyle choices, there are more options than ever for keeping your heart healthy.
This study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and marks a major step forward in the way we treat high blood pressure.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about why checking blood pressure while lying down is very important and lowering top blood pressure number to less than 120 mm Hg effectively prevents heart disease.
For more information about blood pressure, please read studies that turmeric and vitamin D may boost blood pressure control in type 2 diabetes and scientists find link between blood pressure drugs and bowel diseases.
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