An important blood pressure study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, a major international cardiology journal

Telmisartan combination Trial, an investigator-initiated research study, also known as the TelCom Study was conducted at the Apollo Group of Hospitals, Hyderabad, under the leadership of Padma Shri Prof. Dr.C. Venkata S. Ram who was supported by a team of nationally well-recognized cardiologists. Shri Prof. Dr.C. Venkata S. Ram also acknowledged the support of Mankind Pharma Ltd. and its endeavour to maintain and protect public health by providing affordable quality medicines.
 
The objectives of the study were to utilize combination anti-hypertensive drug therapy to achieve the new guidelines recommended target blood pressure level of =<130/80 mm Hg in patients with hypertension.  The new normal blood pressure level of<130/80 mm Hg is evidence-based from many studies.
 
TelCom is the first clinical study to apply the new guidelines into practice. The study evaluated the effects of combining Telmisartan and angiotensin-receptor-blocker (ARB)-- with a calcium channel blocker (CCB), either Amlodipine or Cilnidipine, in patients with hypertension. The study group included 94 patients who received either Telmisartan + Amlodipine or Telmisartan + Cilnidipine at standard recommended doses. The patients were followed for 8 weeks on treatment. The results showed that:
 
1.     The combination of Telmisartan with Amlodipine or Cilnidipine effectively lowered the blood pressure to target levels. Both outpatient clinic and 24 hr. blood pressure levels were reduced by the treatment.
 
2.     The treatments also lowered central aortic blood pressure levels, which is a unique feature of the study.
 
3.      Blood pressure was recorded with automated devices per the new guidelines, another unique feature of the study.
 
4.     24 hr. ambulatory blood pressure was measured with a state-of-the-art cuffless method, yet another unique feature of the study.
 
The TelCom Study is the first of a kind to apply the latest therapeutic guidelines for hypertension utilizing the latest cutting-edge method for measuring blood pressure. The study, published online in the prestigious American Journal of Cardiology, places India on the global stage for high calibre clinical research with important implications for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the community.
 
"Studies of this nature of public health importance can be done in India and are worthy of publication in reputed global medical journals. One moral is that academic clinicians in India should be given "protected time" to do quality research, as done in Western countries. Unless our doctors are assured of "protected time", they will lag behind their western counterparts in clinical research", commented Prof. Dr C. Venkata S. Ram, the Lead Investigator of the TelCom study.