Ongoing Landmark ROADMAP Study Demonstrates Significant Improvement in Blood Pressure Control at One Year, According to Blind...(awn from the study. About the RO...),Health

About the ROADMAP One-Year Results

According to baseline blood pressures of the overall patient population, patients were categorized into the following JNC 7 classifications: normal, pre-hypertension, Stage 1 and Stage 2 hypertension. Mean BP for the overall population at study randomization was 136.2/80.6 mm Hg. In the 4,013 patients who remained on double-blind treatment with either olmesartan medoxomil therapy or placebo after one year, mean systolic BP reduction was 9.4 mm Hg, though responses were highly dependent on JNC 7 stages at outset. The ROADMAP study also showed a decrease in the prevalence of Stage 1 hypertension from 32 to 11 percent, as well as decrease in the prevalence of Stage 2 hypertension from 9 to 2 percent. In addition, the prevalence of normotension increased from 11 to 22 percent.

About Diabetes, Microalbuminuria and Hypertension

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people who have diabetes worldwide was approximately 170 million people in 2000, with that number anticipated to more than double by the year 2030.(2) Accounting for about 90 percent of diabetes cases worldwide, type 2 diabetes results from the body's inability to respond properly to the action of insulin produced by the pancreas.(3)

Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure.(4) High blood sugar levels and high blood pressure (often present in patients with type 2 diabetes), may result in small amounts of albumin, a plasma protein, leaking into the urine. This microalbuminuria is an early sign of kidney dysfunction, and is a strong independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.(5)

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a major factor for the development and acceleration of kidney disease in people with diabetes.(6) The JNC 7, American Diabetes Association (ADA), the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) and the E
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