Anti-Hypertensive Drugs are
medicines that help lower blood pressure.
Purpose
Anti-Hypertensive Drugs are used to help control blood pressure in people
whose blood pressure is too high. Blood pressure is a measurement of the
force with which blood moves through the body's system of blood vessels.
Although everyone's blood pressure goes up and down in the course of a
typical day-getting higher when they are active and going down when they
sleep. Some people have blood pressure that stays high all the time. This
condition is known as hypertension. Hypertension is not the same as nervous
tension. People who have high blood pressure are not necessarily tense,
high-strung or nervous. They may not even be aware of their condition.
Being aware of high blood pressure and doing something to control it are
extremely important, however. Untreated, high blood pressure can lead to
diseases of the heart and arteries, kidney damage, or stroke, and can
shorten life expectancy.
Treatments for high blood pressure depend on the type of hypertension. Most
cases of high blood pressure are called Essential or Primary Hypertension,
meaning that the high blood pressure is not caused by some other medical
condition. For most people with primary hypertension, it is difficult to
figure out the exact cause of the problem. However, such hypertension
usually can be controlled by some combination of anti-hypertensive drugs and
changes in daily habits (such as diet, exercise, and weight control).
In people with Secondary Hypertension, the high blood pressure may be due
to medical problems such as kidney disease, narrowing of certain arteries,
or tumors of the adrenal glands. Correcting these problems often cures the
high blood pressure, and no further treatment is needed.
Controlling primary hypertension, on the other hand, is usually a life-long
commitment. Although people may be able to reduce the amount of medicine
they take as their blood pressure improves, they usually must continue
taking it for the rest of their lives.
Description
Many different types of drugs are used, alone or in combination with other
drugs, to treat high blood pressure. The major categories are: ·
- Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Inhibitors: ACE inhibitors work by
preventing a chemical in the blood, angiotensin I, from being converted
into a substance that increases salt and water retention in the body.
These drugs also make blood vessels relax, which further reduces blood
pressure. ·
- Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonists: These drugs act at a later step
in the same process that ACE inhibitors affect. Like ACE inhibitors,
they lower blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels. ·
- Beta blockers: Beta blockers affect the body's response to certain
nerve impulses. This, in turn, decreases the force and rate of the
heart's contractions, which lowers blood pressure. ·
- Blood Vessel Dilators (Vasodilators): These drugs lower blood
pressure by relaxing muscles in the blood vessel walls. ·
- Calcium Channel Blockers: Drugs in this group slow the movement of
calcium into the cells of blood vessels. This relaxes the blood vessels
and lowers blood pressure. ·
- Diuretics: These drugs control blood pressure by eliminating excess
salt and water from the body. ·
- Nerve Blockers: These drugs control nerve impulses along certain
nerve pathways. This allows blood vessels to relax and lowers blood
pressure.
Injection
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