High Blood Pressure Medication Linked to Cancer

In some countries the two brands of high blood pressure drugs that contain Valsartan and Losartan are decided to be withdrawn from circulation because they contain impurities. After that, information circulated stating that both drugs cause cancer.

Information that Valsartan and Losartan cause cancer is actually incorrect. A large-scale study involving nearly 150,000 people taking the drug was published in the journal Pubmed Central. It was found that after a long-term observation, taking the drug did not cause a risk of certain cancers. No studies have reported that hypertensive patients have cancer due to consumption of these drugs.

However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took steps to attract several drug brands Valsartan and Losartan because of reports in America and Europe that there were drug manufacturers who found that the two active substances were contaminated with an impurity named N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDMA).

NDMA is a substance that can be found in chlorine pesticides or cleaning fluids. But sometimes NDMA can form accidentally from certain chemical reaction processes. The impact of NDMA on humans is not yet clear. What is known to date is that NDMA can cause genetic mutations that lead to the potential for cancer in experimental animals. Because of these findings, NDMA should not be found in food and medicine because it is considered to have the potential to increase the risk of cancer.

Not all outstanding brands of Valsartan and Losartan drugs contain NDMA impurities. BPOM states that those containing impurities are drugs with raw materials for production of Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals, Linhai, China circulating under the brand Acetensa (50 mg film coated tablets) and Insaar (50 mg tablets). Meanwhile other brands of drugs containing Valsartan or Losartan have been declared safe until now.

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