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New findings from the independent study, show that adding the blood pressure lowering medication Diovan to conventional therapy produced a dramatic 39% reduction in cardiovascular events and a 40% reduction in stroke. The superior benefits reported with Diovan (valsartan) led to an early termination of the study, which involved more than 3,000 patients.
In addition to its impact on overall cardiovascular events and stroke, Diovan (valsartan) demonstrated relative reductions of 65% in angina pectoris (recurring acute chest pain), 46% in heart failure and 81% in aortic dissection (separation of the wall layers in the body's main artery) compared to other treatment groups. According to the investigators, these benefits cannot be explained by a difference in blood pressure alone. There were few adverse events (2.5% overall) with no significant difference in tolerability between the groups.
The study is the first controlled trial to assess the cardiovascular benefits of adding the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) Diovan to conventional non-ARB therapy, compared to non-ARB therapy alone, in a large population. Key events evaluated as part of the primary endpoint included heart attack, stroke and hospitalization for heart failure or angina pectoris.
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