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Research shows that the cheapest drug among hypertension drugs is the most effective. So far, none of the five types of hypertension drugs is better, but new results have been announced that the cheapest drugs work.

Then, Dong Dong-chan, a medical expert reporter, will tell you more about what to do for patients with high blood pressure who have taken other medicines.

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Lee Jae-un in his 50s has been taking high blood pressure medicine for seven years.

[Lee Jaewoon / hypertension patients: I've definitely dropped blood pressure. Less stiff stuff.]

There are 11 million people with hypertension in Korea.

Until now, the fact that it was important to take medicine did not mean much.

However, international collaborative research teams such as the United States, Germany, Japan, and Korea have published papers in the world's three major medical journals that reverse this theory.

Among the five types of antihypertensive drugs, the cheapest diuretic-based antihypertensive drugs were found to be the most effective.

[Yoo Seung-chan / Co-author, Internal Medicine: (Diuretic drugs) have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization, myocardial infarction, and stroke by about 15%.]

This study analyzed the effects of the hypertensive drugs used on 5 million patients in 9 countries including Korea.

[Professor, Park, Rae-woong / Ajuju University, Department of Medical Informatics: Using a large amount of patient data already accumulated, we have extracted patients that fit the real world, and we have obtained real-world results from patients who have access to real life.]

Diuretic hypertension drugs are the least prescribed in Korea, the United States and Europe.

In the meantime, many medical doctors prescribe high-priced medicines because there are studies showing that expensive blood pressure medicine works well. The Korean Society of Cardiology showed a cautious stance on this study. One professor at the conference said there was no data on how consistently blood pressure was controlled by each drug, and further study was needed.

Because hypertension drugs are specialty drugs, patients can't decide which medicine to take, so the patient needs to take the medicine they have been taking so far. Academics and governments will need to discuss how to change the guidelines for prescribing hypertension based on the findings.

(Video coverage: Jung Sunghwa, Video editing: Ha Sungwon)