The most common blood pressure medicines are ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers and diuretics. Many people need more than one medicine to bring their high blood pressure under control.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce blood pressure by relaxing your blood vessels. Common examples are enalapril, lisinopril, perindopril and ramipril.
Hypertension is a common problem in general practice. Prescribing guidelines vary, but generally favour thiazide diuretics as first line treatment for uncomplicated essential hypertension.
Baxdrostat is an oral medication that targets a hormone called aldosterone that regulates the amount of salt in your body. Baxdrostat blocks an enzyme that your body needs to make aldosterone, explains study co-author Morris Brown, M.D., a professor of endocrine hypertension at the Queen Mary University of London.
There are three main classes of medication that are usually in the first line of treatment for hypertension: 1. Calcium Channel Blockers (CCB) 2. Angiotensin Converting Enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors or ACE-I) and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) 3. Diuretics.
While the class of blood pressure-lowering medicines called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors may be prescribed more commonly, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) work just as well and may cause fewer side effects.
Safe medications to use include methyldopa and potentially some diuretics and beta-blockers, including labetalol.
Beta-blockers, specifically metoprolol, atenolol, and propranolol, are the high blood pressure drugs most associated with weight gain (Wharton, 2018).
In addition to considering the effectiveness and potential side effects, they will consider your general health, sex, and age; the severity of your high blood pressure; any additional, underlying medical conditions; and whether there is a reason to avoid any particular drugs.
What causes high blood pressure? High blood pressure usually develops over time. It can happen because of unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as not getting enough regular physical activity. Certain health conditions, such as diabetes and having obesity, can also increase the risk for developing high blood pressure.
Still, you can make lifestyle changes to bring your blood pressure down. Something as simple as keeping yourself hydrated by drinking six to eight glasses of water every day improves blood pressure. Water makes up 73% of the human heart,¹ so no other liquid is better at controlling blood pressure.
Most of the time, blood pressure medicines do not cause side effects. Some people have mild side effects, including dizziness, headaches, swelling in the legs or feet, or stomach problems.
By taking your blood pressure medications before going to bed, you're preventing high blood pressure during sleep, which is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, Hermida is quoted in the report as saying.
Individual Drugs: The following are examples of ACEIs in clinical practice: benazepril (Mylan), captopril (Capoten), enalapril (Vasotec), fosinopril (Monopril), Lisinopril (Prinivil), moexipril (Univasc), quinapril (Accupril), ramipril (Altace) and trandolapril (Mavik).
Your doctor may want to check for things like an overactive thyroid, sleep apnea, kidney dysfunction, or adrenal gland disorders, which can elevate blood pressure. Timing is everything. Consider taking your medication at a different time of day than you do now.
At the beginning, measure your blood pressure at least twice daily. Take it first in the morning before eating or taking any medications. Take it again in the evening. Each time you measure, take two or three readings to make sure your results are the same.
140/90 or higher (stage 2 hypertension): You probably need medication. At this level, your doctor is likely to prescribe medicine now to get your blood pressure under control. At the same time, you'll also need to make lifestyle changes. If you ever have blood pressure that's 180/120 or above, it's an emergency.
In other words, once blood pressure rises above normal, subtle but harmful brain changes can occur rather quickly—perhaps within a year or two. And those changes may be hard to reverse, even if blood pressure is nudged back into the normal range with treatment.