"This study, which is the first of its kind, shows that postponement of hypertension onset through medical treatment is feasible, and without side effects," says Julius, an active emeritus professor of cardiovascular medicine at the U-M Medical School. "However, the effect is moderate, and further studies in younger people and over longer periods of time are needed in order to demonstrate clinical usefulness."
The study, called the Trial of Preventing Hypertension or TROPHY study, was funded by AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that makes candesartan and sells it as ATACAND (candesartan cilexetil).
Julius and his colleagues proposed the study design to AstraZeneca, which agreed to fund and organize the study. The data were collected and compiled by the company, and then provided to Julius and his colleagues for analysis.
The study involved adults between the ages of 30 and 65 who were enrolled at 71 centers in the United States. The average age was 48, and 60 percent of participants were men.
At the beginning of the study, all had average blood pressure readings that included either a systolic (top number) reading between 130 and 139 mmHg, or a diastolic (bottom number) reading between 80 and 89 mmHg. This range is considered pre-hypertensive.
The study's main goal was to see how many participants from each group (drug vs. placebo) progressed to having full-blown hypertension, defined as a systolic reading over 140 mmHg or a diastolic reading over 90 mmHg, at three of their clinic visits during the study or at the four-year visit.
At the end of two years, 40 percent of the 381 participants who received only placebo had developed hypertension, compared with 13.6 percent of the 391 participants who had received candesartan for those two years. By the end of four years, 63 percent of the participants who received only placebo
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Contact: Kara Gavin
kegavin@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
14-Mar-2006