To Benefit from Blood Pressure Medications, Maintain Their Schedule

A large-scale analysis of previous studies has shown that blood pressure-lowering medications help prevent heart attacks and strokes, but only when patients take them as prescribed.

Gianyang Yang, head of the research team from the University of Oxford, said in a statement: “Our findings confirm the common saying that medications do not work for patients who do not take them.”

Yang, who presented the results at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Munich, added that “patients with low adherence derived little or no benefit regarding cardiovascular diseases, whereas those with higher adherence benefited, as evidenced by reductions in blood pressure and prevention of cardiovascular-related complications.”

The incidence rate of serious cardiovascular complications such as stroke, heart attack, coronary artery occlusion, and heart failure leading to death or hospitalization decreased by 11 percent among participants who took at least 80 percent of their prescribed treatment.

In contrast, among those who took less than 80 percent of their medication, there was no reduction in the likelihood of developing heart disease.

The researchers said that strategies to improve adherence should be encouraged, such as simplifying treatment regimens, using fixed-dose combination pills to reduce the burden of multiple medications, and employing long-acting compounds so that the impact of occasional missed doses is minimized.

Professor Felix Mahfoud of the University Hospital Basel and chair of the communications committee of the European Society of Cardiology, who was not involved in the study, said: “For years, we have neglected medication non-adherence as a cause of uncontrolled high blood pressure.”

He added: “Assessing adherence should become a routine part of hypertension care so that patients do not miss out on life-saving benefits.”