Injections could treat high blood pressure

This news item was added on 10th March 2008

A vaccine administered just a few times a year could remove the need for patients with high blood pressure to take daily pills, new research suggests.

The vaccine's manufacturer, Cytos Biotechnology, has tested the product in 72 people with mild to moderate hypertension.

Participants were given three injections - one at the start of the trial, another at one month, and the third at three months.

A report in the Lancet medical journal reveals that patients who received 300 micrograms of the vaccine experienced a 9mm fall in systolic blood pressure and a 4mm fall in diastolic blood pressure.

The effect was particularly noticeable in the morning, when the majority of strokes and heart attacks take place.

Study authors wrote: "Importantly, it is compatible with a treatment regimen of a few injections per year, when the vaccine could be administered during regular control visits of hypertensive patients to their doctors."

An accompanying editorial by Dr Ola Samuelsson and Dr Han Herlitz, both from Sweden's Sahgrenska University Hospital, described the findings as "intriguing and promising".