Hypertension is a common disease among the elderly, which may start to cause problems since they enter middle age after working hard for more than half of their lives. The cause of hypertension cannot be clearly identified, but there are increased risk factors if there are inappropriate lifestyle behaviors, such as not taking good enough basic
health care , starting from food that we may eat an unbalanced diet of all 5 food groups, causing weight to be higher than the standard, eating too much sodium or salty food, including lack of exercise, not getting enough rest, accumulating too much stress, and smoking and drinking alcohol.
When is it called high blood pressure?
Blood pressure has 2 numbers: the top number is the pressure during the heart’s contraction and the bottom number is the pressure during the heart’s relaxation. The ideal blood pressure is the top number not exceeding 120 and the bottom number not exceeding 80. If your blood pressure is 130/80 or higher, it means that you are in the high blood pressure range.
People with high blood pressure should reduce their blood pressure to less than 140/90 mmHg, and lower it further if they have diabetes or are at high risk of cardiovascular disease, such as stroke, hemiplegia, or coronary heart disease. The blood pressure reduction target should be less than 130/80 mmHg.
When it’s time to treat high blood pressure, changing your behavior and taking the right medication to help adjust your blood pressure back to normal is something that the doctor will consider for us in order to reduce the risk of heart and blood vessel disease, such as diabetes. But if we know the information that there are many types of blood pressure lowering drugs and what kind of drugs work and what side effects they have, it will be more beneficial for the patient. Health therefore has information on the group of drugs to treat high blood pressure from pharmacist Uthai Sukwiwatsirikul to share.
7 groups of drugs to treat “high blood pressure”
- Diuretic group
These include hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, and amiloride. These drugs work by removing salt from the body, causing frequent urination.
Side effects of this health care group of drugs include dehydration, abnormal blood potassium levels, and high blood fat levels.
- A group of drugs that block the flow of calcium into cells.
These include nifedipine and amlodipine. By blocking the flow of calcium into cells, the muscles in the blood vessels relax and lead to blood vessel expansion, which results in a decrease in blood pressure.
Side effects of this group of drugs include palpitations, headache, swelling of the joints and feet, and constipation.
3.Angiotensin inhibitors group
Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) are abbreviated to enalapril, captopril, and lisinopril. They work by inhibiting the enzyme that creates angiotensin, which causes blood vessels to constrict. Therefore, when there is no angiotensin, blood vessel constriction is reduced, resulting in a decrease in blood pressure.
Side effects of this class of drugs include dry cough and hyperkalemia.
- Angiotensin receptor blockers
Abbreviated as #ARB, which stands for angiotensin receptor blocker, includes losartan, irbesartan, valsartan, candesartan, etc. The effect of blocking angiotensin from binding to this receptor causes blood vessels to dilate, thus lowering blood pressure.
- Beta blockers
These include atenolol, propranolol, metoprolol, etc. These drugs block the autonomic nervous system, causing the heart to beat more slowly, the pulse to slow down, and then blood pressure to drop.
Common side effects of this class of drugs include fatigue, which usually occurs during the first few days of taking the drug, but will decrease after taking the drug continuously for about 1-2 weeks. Other side effects that may occur include depression, nightmares, and sexual dysfunction.
This group of drugs should not be used in patients with asthma or emphysema because it may make the symptoms of these lung diseases worse.
6.Alpha-blocking drugs
These include prazosin and doxasozin. These drugs block the autonomic nervous system at the smooth muscles of blood vessels, causing blood vessels to dilate and resulting in a decrease in blood pressure.
A common side effect of this class of drugs is orthostatic hypotension, which can cause dizziness. Therefore, patients taking this drug should be careful about changing positions suddenly. For example, if you need to stand up after lying down for a long time, you should change to a sitting position first, instead of standing up immediately from lying down.
Other side effects that may occur include headache, palpitations, and weakness.
- Vasodilator group
These include hydralazine and minoxidil. These drugs have a direct effect on dilating blood vessels, which reduces blood pressure.
Side effects of this group of drugs include flushing, palpitations, headaches, etc.
How to choose medication to treat high blood pressure?
Generally, doctors will prescribe only one blood pressure lowering drug first. If the blood pressure is still not lowered, they will prescribe multiple drugs together. The doctor will decide which drug is most appropriate. They usually choose a drug that is effective in lowering blood pressure for 24 hours. It is taken only once a day for convenience and to control blood pressure from fluctuating greatly during the day.
Is there a chance of high blood pressure being cured?
If you are someone who has been diagnosed with high blood pressure and is being treated with blood pressure medication, you should take your medication regularly as prescribed by your doctor, do not miss doses, do not reduce or increase the dose on your own, and must see your doctor for every appointment. The doctor may have you take the same medication or adjust the dosage. The pharmacist will prescribe the medication for you and advise you on the correct use.
If you have any old medication left, you should carry it with you so that the pharmacist can collect the medication that the doctor has stopped using or change the label of the medication in case the doctor changes the dosage. In addition, you should not take someone else’s blood pressure medication because each person’s physical condition is different, such as having impaired kidney function or having other diseases or other medications used together.
High blood pressure medication is not the final solution
Using the least amount of medication is likely to be most beneficial to the ufabet https://ufabet999.app body. Therefore, people with high blood pressure should try to change their behavior to help lower their blood pressure first by stopping smoking, losing weight, reducing alcohol consumption, reducing salt intake (sodium chloride should be less than 6 grams/day), eating the DASH diet (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension), which means increasing vegetables and fruits, reducing saturated fat and reducing the amount of fat, along with exercising 30-45 minutes a day regularly.