Blood pressure pill slashes risk of a stroke by 40%

A NEW daily pill has been hailed as a "gamechanger" for tackling high blood pressure for millions.

- BY MARTIN BAGOT

A global trial showed the drug, baxdrostat, slashed blood pressure in people resistant to other treatments.

About 14 million people in the UK have high blood pressure and for half of these it is hard to manage with existing drugs, increasing heart attack and stroke risk.

Trial lead Professor Bryan Williams, of University College London, which developed the drug with AstraZeneca, said: "This is a potential gamechanger for patients. We saw almost a 10mmHg reduction in [systolic] blood pressure, from a baseline of 149.

"That is a big drop. That would reduce [the chance of a] stroke by about 40% and heart disease by about 25%." If approved by regulators, baxdrostat could be rolled out on the NHS as early as next year.

Unveiling the findings at the European Society of Cardiology conference in Madrid, Prof Williams said: "I've never seen blood pressure reductions of this magnitude with a drug. High blood pressure is hard to control.

"Despite many treatments and a lot of discussion it's still the single most important preventable cause of premature death globally. This drug development is really a triumph of scientific discovery."