High Blood Pressure Medicines استعرض الموضوع السابق استعرض الموضوع التالي اذهب الى الأسفل كاتب الموضوع

by 3loomi Tue Oct 05, 2010 6:45 pm

High Blood Pressure Medicines

What is high blood pressure?

Imaginethat your arteries are pipes that carry blood from your heart to therest of your body. High blood pressure (also called hypertension)occurs when your blood moves through your arteries at a higher pressurethan normal

How is high blood pressure treated?

Highblood pressure medicines (also called antihypertensive medicines) canhelp lower your blood pressure. The goal of treatment is to reduce yourblood pressure to normal levels with medicine that is easy to take andhas few, if any, side effects. Your doctor may also talk to you aboutthe benefits of lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet, beingphysically active and losing weight if you're overweight

What are some common medicines to treat high blood pressure?
Thereare several types of medicine used to treat high blood pressure. Yourdoctor will decide which type of medicine is right for you.

Diuretics(water pills) help your body get rid of extra sodium (salt) and waterso your blood vessels don't have to hold so much fluid.

Beta-blockers make the heart beat slower so that blood passes through your blood vessels with less force.

Angiotensin-convertingenzyme inhibitors (also called ACE inhibitors) keep your body frommaking angiotensin II, a hormone that causes blood vessels to narrow.This relaxes your blood vessels.

Angiotensin II receptorblockers (also called ARBs) relax your blood vessels by blocking theeffects of angiotensin II, a hormone that causes blood vessels tonarrow.

Calcium channel blockers (also called CCBs) help keepyour blood vessels from constricting (becoming narrow) by blockingcalcium from entering your cells.

Alpha-blockers help relax your blood vessels by reducing nerve impulses. This allows your blood to pass through more easily.

Alpha-betablockers not only reduce nerve impulses, but also make the heart beatslower so the blood passes through the vessels with less force.

Centrallyacting drugs affect your brain and central nervous system to reduce thenerve impulses that can increase your heart rate and cause your bloodvessels to narrow.

Direct vasodilators relax the muscles in the blood vessel walls. This causes the blood vessels to widen

Do these medicines have any side effects?
All medicines have side effects. Some common side effects of high blood pressure medicines include the following:

* Headache
* Dizziness or lightheadedness
* Nausea
* Vomiting
* Extreme tiredness, weakness, drowsiness or lethargy (lack of energy)
* Diarrhea or constipation
* Unintended weight loss or gain
* Nervousness or increased anxiety
* Chest pain, heart palpitations (the feeling that your heart is racing) or arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
* Cough, fever, congestion, upper respiratory tract infection or "flu-like" symptoms
* Skin rash

Tell your doctor as soon as possible if your side effects become severe or bothersome.

What is a drug interaction?
Ifyou use 2 or more drugs at the same time, the way your body processeseach drug can change. When this happens, the risk of side effects fromeach drug increases and each drug may not work the way it should. Thisis called a "drug-drug interaction." Vitamins and herbal supplementscan also affect the way your body processes medicine.

Certainfoods or drinks can also prevent your medicine from working the way itshould or make side effects worse. This is called a "drug-foodinteraction." For example, people taking certain CCBs may need to avoideating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice.

Be certain thatyour doctor knows all of the over-the-counter and prescriptionmedicines, vitamins and herbal supplements you are taking.

Also, ask your doctor whether you need to avoid any foods or drinks while using your blood pressure medicine

Source

Written by familydoctor.org editorial staff.

American Academy of Family Physicians

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