High Blood Pressure Medication Helps Control Hypertension
When a person is diagnosed with high blood pressure, medication may be prescribed to bring it under control. In some cases high blood pressure may be caused by another health problem such as a kidney infection and is called secondary high blood pressure, but the most common hypertension has unknown causes and high blood pressure medication is used to bring it down into what is a considered a normal range.
While there is no known cure for high blood pressure the use of different medications has been able to keep it under control. Although the use of high blood pressure medication will be on a trial and error basis during the first part of treatment, once a person begins a medical regimen, it is unlikely the need for high blood pressure medication will ever end. It is also imperative not to discontinue its use as untreated high blood pressure often leads to other, sometimes fatal, complications.
Some of the most common high blood pressure medication in use, are vasodilators, which cause the arterial walls to relax allowing them to expand easier relieving the stress on the heart and reducing the amount of pressure needed to push blood through the vessels. They are especially useful in allowing blood to flow more easily through smaller blood vessels into the larger ones.
Other Drugs Reduce Restricting Chemicals
Another group of high blood pressure medication commonly used are ACE inhibitors which reduce the body's ability to produce a chemical that causes the blood vessels to restrict. Depending on the patient's response to either drug they may be prescribed one or the other and in severe cases of high blood pressure, both.
Another group of drugs called beta blockers work to reduce the heart rate as well as the volume of blood being pumped by the heart. By using a combination of the three types of drugs, high blood pressure medication can reduce the amount of blood being pumped as well as keep the blood vessels flexible and unrestrictive. Most patients respond well to these high blood pressure medications, but during the onset of treatment, the doctor will need to try each one or a combination of them to find the ones that produce the best results with the least amount of side effects.
In some cases, diuretics may also be prescribed to help reduce the amount of water in the body and to help get rid of excess sodium. While taking high blood pressure medication the blood pressure may be controlled, but ascribing to a healthy diet is also necessary to maintain the reduced pressure and not counteract the medication.
