A powerful new tool could change the way doctors treat high blood pressure. Researchers have developed a Blood Pressure Treatment Efficacy Calculator using data from nearly 500 clinical trials and more than 100,000 patients.
This calculator can now help doctors estimate how well different medications will work to lower a patient’s blood pressure.
The study behind the calculator was recently published in the medical journal The Lancet. It could help doctors choose the right combination of drugs based on how much a patient needs to lower their blood pressure.
This is important because even a small drop in blood pressure can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. For example, lowering the top blood pressure number (systolic pressure) by just 1 mmHg can cut the risk of these problems by 2%.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, affects about 1.3 billion people around the world. It often has no symptoms, which is why it’s called a “silent killer.” If left untreated, it can lead to serious health problems like heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease.
Right now, most patients start with just one medicine. But a single drug usually lowers systolic blood pressure by only 8 to 9 mmHg. Many people need a much bigger drop—sometimes 15 to 30 mmHg—to reach healthy levels.
That’s why doctors often need to use more than one medication. The problem is that with so many drugs and dosages available, it’s hard to know the best combination for each patient.
Dr. Nelson Wang from The George Institute for Global Health said this calculator makes it easier to find the right treatment plan. It groups medications by how much they lower blood pressure: low, moderate, or high intensity. This system is already used to manage cholesterol and now can help guide blood pressure treatment too.
Before this calculator, doctors usually made changes to medication by checking blood pressure readings over time. But this method has a problem—blood pressure numbers can change from moment to moment. They can vary by time of day, season, or even from one reading to the next. That makes it hard to know whether the treatment is really working.
Dr. Wang explained that small changes in blood pressure from medications can be lost in the “noise” of these natural ups and downs. Also, if blood pressure isn’t measured correctly, it can lead to the wrong decisions. This is why having a tool that shows the average effects of different treatments can help.
Professor Anthony Rodgers, another lead researcher, said this new method challenges the old way of starting with a low dose and slowly adjusting. Instead of waiting and guessing, doctors can now choose a plan that’s backed by strong evidence and start helping patients sooner.
The next step is to test this approach in real-life clinical settings. Researchers want to see if using the calculator can help more people reach their blood pressure goals.
With high blood pressure contributing to around 10 million deaths every year, better treatment strategies are urgently needed. Most people with the condition don’t have it under control. If global treatment success rates could increase to even 50%, millions of lives could be saved.
This new calculator could help doctors and patients find the most effective treatment faster, leading to better health and fewer deaths worldwide.
If you care about blood pressure, please read studies about unhealthy habits that could increase high blood pressure risk, and eating eggs in a healthy diet may reduce risks of diabetes, high blood pressure.
For more information about blood pressure, please see recent studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and results showing 12 foods that lower blood pressure.
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