Tekturna: New high blood pressure medication approved by FDA

[Jack54]

Great news for some of us maybe. I found this at the MayoClinic.com:
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What happened? A new high blood pressure medication called Tekturna has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Tekturna (aliskiren) is the first new type of high blood pressure medication approved by the FDA in more than a decade, and it could become an important tool for you and your doctor to use in lowering your blood pressure. More options to treat high blood pressure are important because one in four Americans has high blood pressure. High blood pressure increases your risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, heart failure and death.

Tekturna is known as a renin inhibitor. Renin is an enzyme produced by your kidneys that starts a cascade of chemical steps that increases blood pressure. Tekturna works by reducing the ability of renin to begin this process.

"Tekturna is unique because it acts earlier in your body's blood pressure regulation process than most other blood pressure medications. It also can be used well with the other major classes of blood pressure drugs to improve their actions," says Sheldon Sheps, M.D., a Mayo Clinic emeritus high blood pressure specialist who has advised the federal government on high blood pressure guidelines.

More at:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tekturna/DI00081