New Lancet Study Unveils Smart Calculator to Predict Blood Pressure Drug Effectiveness

Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health explained that the calculator allows clinicians to personalize therapy based on how much each patient needs to lower their blood pressure. The calculator works by analyzing average treatment effects across hundreds of studies and classifying therapies as low, moderate, or high intensity depending on their blood pressure (BP)–lowering impact—an approach similar to cholesterol management strategies. On average, a single blood pressure medication lowers systolic BP by only 8–9 mmHg, while many patients require drops of 15–30 mmHg to achieve target levels.

Anthony Rodgers, Senior Professorial Fellow at The George Institute, said the new tool challenges the traditional “start low, go slow, measure and judge” approach. “With this new method you specify how much you need to lower blood pressure, choose an ideal treatment plan to achieve that based on the evidence, and get the patient started on that ideally sooner rather than later.”

High blood pressure remains one of the world’s most serious health threats, affecting 1.3 billion people and causing roughly 10 million deaths annually. Researchers emphasized that even modest improvements in treatment precision could save millions of lives globally.

Reference: Nelson Wang, Abdul Salam, Rashmi Pant, Amit Kumar, Rupasvi Dhurjati, Faraidoon Haghdoost, Kota Vidyasagar, Prachi Kaistha, Hariprasad Esam, Sonali R Gnanenthiran, Raju Kanukula, Paul K Whelton, Brent Egan, Aletta E Schutte, Kazem Rahimi, Otavio Berwanger, Anthony Rodgers. Blood pressure-lowering efficacy of antihypertensive drugs and their combinations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. The Lancet, 2025; 406 (10506): 915 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00991-2