High blood pressure, also called hypertension, affects nearly half of all American adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hypertension is the leading cause of heart disease, stroke and kidney problems, so it’s important to keep blood pressure levels under control.

Now, a revolutionary triple-pill strategy may effectively manage high blood pressure, says Study Finds. It was developed by scientists at The George Institute for Global Health in New South Wales, Australia, to help Africans in regions where less than 10% of patients have their blood pressure under control. High blood pressure is the leading mortality risk factor for Africans, causing an estimated 10.8 million deaths annually.

The innovative new pill combines three drugs: telmisartan, amlodipine, and indapamide into a single, one daily dose that was well-tolerated and achieved remarkable results in the recent study.

The study involved 300 Black Africans in Nigeria with uncontrolled high blood pressure who were either untreated or receiving a single dose blood pressure-lowering drug. Participants were either treated with the low-dose triple-pill protocol, or with a standard care protocol. After six months, 82% of the study participants on the triple-pill had their blood pressure under control compared with 72% in the standard care group.

That stunning statistic is impressive since in most African countries, fewer than one in four people with hypertension have it under control. The new triple-pill outperformed standard treatment by lowering systolic blood pressure, the top number, by an average of 5.8 mmHg more.

“There has been little innovation in this field, so it’s rewarding to see many years of research by The Geroge Institute culminate in a novel treatment using established medicines to address an unmet need,” said Anthony Rodgers, a professor at The George Institute, and chief medical officer at George Medicines, the company developing the pill.  

“Our mission is to develop sustainable solutions that can improve the health of millions of people worldwide and alleviate strain on health systems,” he added.  The triple-pill may be the easy, affordable weapon in the war against hypertension in Africa and beyond, say experts. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.