How is high blood pressure treated?
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Ideally, the treatment of high blood pressure begins with nonpharmaceutical intervention, meaning no drugs. If a person is overweight, weight reduction is encouraged; heavy drinkers are encouraged to cut down their intake. Also, regular cardiovascular exercise and stress management is strongly encouraged. If these practices are not successful in reducing the hypertension then the next step usually includes medication in conjunction with dietary and behavior modifications. |
What kinds of drugs are used to treat high blood pressure?
Drugs collectively known as antihypertensives are used to treat high blood pressure (see Common Drugs for High Blood Pressue Table below). These drugs generally fall into a few categories which are:
• Calcium antagonists (Ca channel blockers) – These drugs slow heart rate and relax blood vessels. Therefore they may decrease blood pressure by addressing both cardiac output and circulation resistance.
• ACE inhibitors – These drugs act by decreasing the activity of an enzyme in the blood called angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). Angiotensin loosely translates to vascular tension. This enzyme is responsible for activating a hormone called angiotensin to its active form. Active angiotensin (Angiotensin II) is a potent constrictor of blood vessels and also increases aldosterone levels in the blood. Aldosterone in turn can increase the volume of the blood by decreasing the loss of sodium in the urine. The extra sodium in the blood attracts water, which thus swells blood volume. This in turn may increase blood pressure by increasing the resistance of blood flow through blood vessels. Other drugs act to decrease the potency of angiotensin by interfering with its ability to interact with its receptors.
• Beta-blockers – These drugs work by decreasing heart rate and stroke volume by decreasing the potency of norepinephrine (noradrenaline). To do so the beta-blockers “block” the ability of norepinephrine to interact with receptors called beta-adrenergic receptors.
• Diuretics – These drugs work by increasing water loss in urine, which in turn can decrease blood volume, which then may decrease blood pressure.
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Beta-Blockers |
Propanolol (Inderal), Nadolo (Corgard), Timolol (Blocadren), Atenolol (Tenormin), Metoprolol (Betaloc, Lopressor), Acebutolol (Sectral), Oxprenolol (Trasicor), Pindolol (Visken), Labetalol (Trandate) |
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Calcium Antagonists |
Verapamil (Calan, Isoptin, Verelan), Felodipine (Plendil, Renedil), Diltiazem (Cardzem), Nimodipine (Nimptop) and Nifedipine (Adalat) |
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ACE Inhibitors |
Captopril (Capoten), Enalapril (Vasotec), Lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril), Ramipril (Altace), Qunapril (Accupril), Fosinopril (Monopril), Amlodipine (Norvasc) and Nicardipine (Cardene). |
