Dietary Supplement Derived from Milk may Help Hypertensive Patients

A milk-based dietary supplement reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients, according to results of two new clinical trials.

Two new clinical trials have found that a milk-based dietary supplement is helpful in reducing blood pressure in hypertensive patients.

Presented by Calpis Co., Ltd. at the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) Twenty-Third Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2008) in New Orleans, the studies, called AHEAD (Achieve Hypertension Efficacy with AmealPeptide(r) Dietary Supplement ) II, and the PROBE (A Prospective, Two-phase Randomized, Open-Label, Blinded End-Point) Dose Response Study, confirmed the safety and efficacy of AmealPeptide(r) for patients with Stage I and Stage II hypertension.

The AHEAD II study found that the milk-based product produced a mean drop in daytime, ambulatory systolic blood pressure of 3.6 mmHg for the active group after 6 weeks of treatment. The change was both statistically and clinically significant.

According to JNC 7 (The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure), just a 2 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure results in a 6 pc reduction in mortality due to stroke and a 4 pc reduction in mortality due to coronary heart disease (CHD).

Results of the PROBE study showed AmealPeptide(r) to have a dose dependent blood pressure lowering trend and a reduction of daytime ambulatory blood pressure of 7.6 mmHg (8.7) in the 75 mg a day group and also a significant reduction in 24-hr systolic blood pressure in the same group of 6.2 mmHg (8.4) from the baseline after 8 weeks of treatment. A lower dose of 5 mg a day of AmealPeptide(r) also showed blood pressure lowering effect.

"It's very exciting to see blood pressure reductions achieved by the food derived substance, AmealPeptide(r)" stated Joel Neutel, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine and a specialist in clinical hypertension of the American Society of Hypertension.

"With hypertension and prehypertension on the rise, physicians and patients need as many effective tools as possible for the management of this condition," he added.

The AHEAD II study enrolled 81 newly diagnosed stage I and stage II hypertensives. All subjects had a mean daytime systolic blood pressure between 140 mmHg and 179 mmHg at the start of the trial. Fifty-two received 75 mg of AmealPeptide(r) twice a day for 6 weeks, while 29 received a placebo.

The PROBE study enrolled 59 diagnosed stage I and stage II hypertensives who were not taking any antihypertensive medications or who were uncontrolled on antihypertensive therapy. All subjects had a mean seated systolic blood pressure between 150 mmHg and 179 mmHg and a mean daytime systolic blood pressure between 140 mmHg and 179 mmHg at the start of the trial. All enrolled received AmealPeptide(r) (5mg, 15mg, 50mg, 75mg a day or 75mg twice a day) or placebo.

"Calpis takes pride in conducting research that holds up under serious scientific scrutiny," said Craig Tillman, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Calpis USA, Inc.

Source-ANI
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