Extra BP pills a life-guard for diabetics

Diabetics who take blood pressure-lowering pills along with their standard medicines can lower their risk of death by almost one-fifth, reports Sanchita Sharma.

Diabetics who take blood pressure-lowering pills along with their standard medicines can lower their risk of death by almost one-fifth, reveals the world’s largest-ever drug trial on diabetes medication.

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The results were reported in the medical journal The Lancet and presented at a cardiology conference in Vienna on Monday. They showed that patients with type II diabetes can sharply lower the risk of death in general and heart and kidney disease in particular by taking a fixed-dose combination of the drugs perindopril (an ACE-inhibitor) and indapamide (a diuretic).

Coordinated by the George Institute for International Health at the University of Sydney, the trial involved more than 11,140 patients from 20 countries, including India, All the participants were on medication for diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure. Half received daily dose of a single tablet containing fixed combination of two blood pressure lowering drugs and the other half received matching inactive placebo.

The additional drug was found to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of death by 14 per cent.