The National Health Insurance Bureau has started to subsidize a drug which can successfully help prevent the onset of diabetes, strokes, heart failure and cardiovascular disorders, cardiologists said.
According to Norman Sharpe of the University of Auckland's cardiology department, studies performed on 9,500 patients over the age of 55 indicated that, in individuals with high blood pressure, the drug Ramipril can decrease their chances of suffering a stroke by 32 percent, heart failure by 20 percent and death from cardiovascular disorders by 26 percent.
Chiang Chern-en (江晨恩), a cardiologist at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said Ramipril is the only medication approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent, not merely treat, cardiovascular disorders.
National Health Insurance coverage will impose no age limits, although the experimental subjects were all over the age of 55.
Tests showed the medication can help prevent the onset of diabetes in patients with high blood pressure, decreasing the chance of developing diabetes by 34 percent. In a group of 5,887 patients, half were given a 10mg dosage of Ramipril daily. In the group that received Ramipril, 102 patients were later diagnosed with diabetes, compared to the 155 patients who had been given a placebo.
According to Chiang, diabetes is becoming a problem in Taiwan, with the number of diabetics increasing at a rate of 9.1 percent each year.
Patients with high blood pressure, a high index of bad cholesterol, abdominal obesity and insulin resistance are likely to develop diabetes, Chiang said.
He said that Ramipril could be used to treat high blood pressure and prevent the future onset of diabetes. It can also slow the process of kidney failure brought on by diabetes.
Chiang conducted his own experiments to determine if the medication was appropriate for Tai-wanese patients, who generally use lower dosages. A group of 275 patients, whose average age was 69, began with a 2.5mg dosage, which was gradually increased to 10mg, the amount used in previous tests.
Chiang stated that for 96.4 percent of the patients, 10mg was an appropriate dosage, effective in decreasing the average blood pressure from 149/83mmHg to 139/80mmHg in three months.
He said that 265 of the patients are still taking the medication.
Chiang said the primary side-effect observed was coughing.
The medication should not be taken during pregnancy, he said.
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