High Blood Pressure Treatment
High Blood Pressure Treatment
Women should discuss with a doctor the increased risk of high blood pressure from taking birth control pills -- especially if they're over 35 and overweight.
Drugs to Treat High Blood Pressure
Sometimes, high blood pressure requires drug therapy, either because of its severity or because it doesn't respond to lifestyle changes and self-help measures. Blood pressure medications do not cure hypertension but help keep blood pressure readings in a healthier range. They usually need to be taken for life. A number of drugs can be used alone or in combination to treat high blood pressure:
Warning: Do not stop taking prescribed medication until you have consulted your doctor; stopping abruptly can be harmful.
Understanding High Blood Pressure -- Diagnosis & Treatment
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What Are the Treatments for High Blood Pressure? continued...
Women should discuss with a doctor the increased risk of high blood pressure from taking birth control pills -- especially if they're over 35 and overweight.
Drugs to Treat High Blood Pressure
Sometimes, high blood pressure requires drug therapy, either because of its severity or because it doesn't respond to lifestyle changes and self-help measures. Blood pressure medications do not cure hypertension but help keep blood pressure readings in a healthier range. They usually need to be taken for life. A number of drugs can be used alone or in combination to treat high blood pressure:
- Diuretics, or "water pills," rid the body of salt and excess fluids.
- Beta-blockers make the heart beat more slowly and with less force. These are particularly effective in people with heart disease.
- Calcium-channel blockers reduce blood pressure by dilating blood vessels.
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors block factors that cause blood vessels to constrict, which makes vessels dilate and thus reduces blood pressure. These drugs can decrease the risk of kidney disease, heart disease, and stroke, and are especially useful in people with heart disease or diabetes.
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are a newer type of blood pressure medicine, which work in a similar way to ACE inhibitors.
- Alpha1-adrenergic blockers and centrally-acting agents lower blood pressure by relaxing and dilating arteries.
- Alpha-beta blockers have the combined effects of relaxing arteries, slowing the heart beat, and reducing the force of the heart beat.
- Centrally-acting agents prevent your brain from sending signals to your nervous system to increase your heart rate and narrow your blood vessels.
- Vasodilators prevent arteries from narrowing by a direct action on the muscles in the walls of the arteries.
Warning: Do not stop taking prescribed medication until you have consulted your doctor; stopping abruptly can be harmful.
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