BERLIN--19 Jun--PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest - New Studies Show Benefits of MICARDIS(R) (Telmisartan) in Combination With Amlodipine and Hydrochlorothiazide The results of two new studies of MICARDIS(R) (telmisartan) in free combination with amlodipine or fixed combination with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 25 mg confirm that a telmisartan-based approach to treating hypertensive patients at risk of cardiovascular events can provide powerful and sustained blood pressure control in a broad range of people, including those who aredifficult-to-treat.(1-5) The study results were presented today at the 18th Scientific Meeting of the European Society of Hypertension and the 22nd Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Hypertension, held in Berlin, Germany. Commenting on the results, Professor Thomas Unger, Chair of Pharmacology and Director of the Institute of Pharmacology at the Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, said, "Controlling patients' blood pressure is a challenge that usually needs more than one antihypertensive to achieve optimal control. Telmisartan already provides proven effective blood pressure lowering and cardio & vascular protection in a broad range of patients at high-risk of cardiovascular disease. These new blood pressure studies now show that combining telmisartan with other antihypertensive treatments - amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide - that act via different mechanisms, may reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke even further." "Round the clock" powerful blood pressure lowering with telmisartan and amlodipine combination In a study combining telmisartan (a modern angiotensin II receptor blocker, ARB) and amlodipine (the most widely-used calcium channel blocker, CCB) 1,461 patients were randomized to receive treatment with a combination of telmisartan 0 (placebo), 20, 40, or 80 mg plus amlodipine 0 (placebo), 2.5, 5 or 10 mg.(1) After 8 weeks, significant blood pressure reductions were observed for all combinations of clinical interest (telmisartan 40 or 80 mg plus amlodipine 5 or 10 mg; p