The treatment of masked hypertension using gastrodia-uncaria granules, a Chinese traditional medicine, showed significant efficacy and safety.
The research study was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial aimed at determining the efficacy and safety of a blood pressure-lowering Chinese herbal formula, gastrodia-uncaria granules, for treating patients diagnosed with masked hypertension. Patients who exhibited an office blood pressure under 140/90 mm Hg, combined with a daytime ambulatory blood pressure within a certain higher range, were randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, to a treatment group for the herbal medicine or a placebo group. Both groups took their respective treatments twice daily for 4 weeks. The core measure of the efficacy of the trial was the change in daytime ambulatory blood pressure.
In terms of results, participants' baseline measurements for office and daytime blood pressures were recorded before beginning of the treatment. Comparing within and between the groups, a significant reduction in blood pressure was observed in the patients who received the herbal treatment, more specifically in daytime and 24-hour blood pressures. However, the reduction was not significant for clinic and nighttime blood pressures. The results remained the same when accounting for protocol adherence in a smaller subset of patients. Adverse effects were rare with only sleepiness reported in daytime, and no serious adverse effects were observed.
