Roche's Xenical helps lower blood pressure: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG's fat blocker Xenical helped people with high blood pressure to lower it, while Abbott Laboratories' appetite suppressant Meridia did not, European researchers reported on Monday.

The findings came in research led by Dr. Karl Horvath of the Medical University of Graz in Austria analyzing dozens of previously published studies on weight-loss interventions for people with high blood pressure, also called hypertension.

This type of research is called meta-analysis. The findings were published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Some of the studies assessed orlistat, a drug sold under the name Xenical that reduces the amount of fat the body absorbs from food. It is available in an over-the-counter version called alli, licensed by GlaxoSmithKline Plc, that is a half-dose version of the prescription medicine Xenical.

Some studies examined sibutramine, a prescription drug marketed by Abbott Laboratories under the brand names Meridia or Reductil.

People who were given orlistat or sibutramine or took part in a weight-loss diet lost more weight than people who did not have such interventions, the researchers said.

Orlistat and weight-loss diets also were effective at reducing the patients' blood pressure, the researchers said.

But sibutramine treatment did not lower overall blood pressure and appeared to increase systolic blood pressure -- the top number in blood pressure readings, the researchers said.

"Although sibutramine reduced body weight about the same amount as orlistat, it did not show the same beneficial effects on BP (blood pressure)," the researchers wrote.

High blood pressure that is left uncontrolled raises one's risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious health problems. Reducing blood pressure in people with hypertension has been shown to reduce these cardiovascular risks.

(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Xavier Briand)