More than 20 medications from six different classes are currently available to treat high blood pressure. Yet most people with hypertension require two or more drugs from these separate classes to reach their blood pressure goals.

But controlling blood pressure may soon become easier with the arrival of a new type of drug that significantly lowers blood pressure and works for 24 hours.

Aliskiren (Tekturna) was tested in clinical trials involving more than 6,400 patients and significantly lowered blood pressure when used alone or in combination with other drugs.

The recent FDA approval of Tekturna is unusual because the United States is the first country where the drug has been approved. Most medications are approved in other countries before they pass muster with our FDA.

Tekturna is also unusual in that it is the first new type of blood pressure medication approved in more than a decade. Its mechanism of action is different than the commonly used antihypertensive medications — ACE inhibitors and ARBs — which work by interfering with the blood pressure-raising effects of angiotensin.

In contrast, the new drug intervenes earlier in the process by blocking the formation of renin, a hormone involved in the creation of angiotensin.

Taken once daily, Tekturna lowers blood pressure for 24 hours. The most common side effect was diarrhea; others included cough and rash. The drug is expected to be available soon in U.S. pharmacies.