Could High Blood Pressure Be Treated With A Vaccine?
For the majority of individuals who are suffering from high blood pressure the long-term answer is daily pills and frequent monitoring from your physician with alterations to your dose or changes in your tablets as needed. So how much better would it be if you were able to simply be vaccinated against high blood pressure and dispense with the nuisance of your daily tablets?
Some one in three Americans are currently suffering from high blood pressure but, because of the complicated mix of drugs frequently needed for treatment, only about one third of those individuals in fact have their blood pressure under control. Nevertheless, this could be about to change in the near future.
In a trial which was conducted earlier this year a total of 72 patients (65 men and 7 women with an average age of just over 51) who were suffering from either mild or moderate hypertension were given a low dose (100 micrograms) vaccine, a high dose (300 micrograms) vaccine or a placebo. This process was repeated for weeks later and at the end of three months.
Fourteen days after the last injection it was noted that the people injected with the high dose vaccine showed a drop in excess of 5 mm Hg in their higher systolic blood pressure and nearly 3 mm Hg in their lower diastolic blood pressure.
Perhaps more notable, it was also discovered that the typical, and potentially dangerous, spike in pressure that happens in the morning between 5 am and 8 am was also down considerably by 25 mm Hg systolic and 13 mm Hg diastolic.
The trial patients all tolerated the vaccine without problem and there were no safety issues during the trial.
Okay, but precisely how does this vaccine work?
Presently blood pressure is treated with a variety of drugs that are designed to act in different ways. Two of the classes of drugs commonly used are angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (such as Lotensin, Vasotec, Monopril, Aceon, Accupril, Mavik, Capoten, Prinivil, Univasc and Zestril) and angiotensin-2 (AT-2) receptor blockers (such as Atacand, Micardis, Cozaar, Avapro and Teveten). In both cases these drugs block the action of a hormone that causes the blood vessels to tighten and thus to increase the pressure within the blood vessels.
The trial vaccine, which is called CYT006-ANgQb, is designed to work in the same manner as these two presently used drugs and so should certainly provide an alternative for those people whose high blood pressure is now treated with AT-2 receptor blockers or ACE inhibitors.
So what about those people whose pressure is currently being treated with the alternatives of beta blockers (such as Sectral, Kerlone, Corgard, Blocadren, Betapace, Tenormin, Cartol, Inderal, Lopressor and Zebeta) or calcium channel blockers (such as Norvasc, Adalat, Nimotop, Isoptin, Calan, Vascor, Tiazac, Plendil, Procardia, Cardizem, Sular, Lotrel and Verelan)?
Of course, it is very early days yet and further studies will be necessary before we see a vaccine in general use to treat high blood pressure. However, if the scientists are right, it is likely that this vaccine is going to be effective for a lot of sufferers, whatever the treatment presently being given.
Naturally time will tell, but this is clearly a very encouraging development.
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