High Blood Pressure Medications
Aceon | Cardura | Coversyl | Lopressor | Plendil | Tenoretic | Zebeta |
High Blood Pressure - The Basic Facts
What is Blood Pressure?
Blood Pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries. Blood Pressure is recorded as two numbers. For example 120/80.The larger number indicates the pressure in the arteries as the heart squeezes out blood during each beat. It is called the Systolic Blood Pressure. The lower number indicates the pressure as the heart relaxes before the next beat. It is called the Diastolic Blood Pressure. Blood does not circulate in an even stream around the body, but travels in a constant series of spurts. Therefore the pressure peaks in the blood vessels just after a heart beat and then ebbs until the next one. This is a continuous process.
What is Normal Blood Pressure?
There are no hard and fast figures which represent a normal Blood Pressure range. However, it is usually agreed that somewhere between 110/70 and 125/80 is considered to be an average Blood Pressure for a grown person. Though someone with naturally low Blood Pressure may be closer to a range of 100/60. A Blood Pressure of 140/90 is considered to be high, although as a person gets older, this falls into the normal range for people.
What Does High Blood Pressure Do To the Body?
High Blood Pressure causes the heart to work harder, putting a person at increased risk for heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney and eye problems. A Blood Pressure above 140/90 may be considered to be on the high side for a young adult, but a Blood Pressure higher than 180/110 is too high and dangerous. There are no symptoms to identify High Blood Pressure and therefore many people are unaware that they have it. High Blood Pressure usually does not give warning signs.
Having learnt a basic facts on Blood Pressure and what high Blood Pressure does to our body,i guess you would also want to know what can be done to prevent this fatal malady. Preventing high blood pressure educates on the simple things to do to maintain a healthy Blood Pressure
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High Blood Pressure - The Silent Killer
Some people do not recognize the importance of keeping their blood pressure under control. They only recognize this when they already experience mild strokes, mild heart attacks and other problems associated with high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a condition that some people take for granted. If you are one of these few, you should start thinking of the possible effects of high blood pressure to your overall health condition.
It is important that you keep your blood pressure in its normal level that is a reading below 120/80. Adopting healthy lifestyle changes is an effective first step, but if these alone are not effective, it is necessary that you have high blood pressure medications.
Diuretics, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin antagonists, calcium channel blockers, alpha-blockers, alpha-beta blockers, nervous system inhibitors and vasodilators are the hypertension medications that you can take as recommended by your doctor. You can take any of these medications, but often, two or more of these drugs work better than one, as long as they are according to your doctor’s recommendation.
These drugs work differently. The diuretics, for instance, work in the kidney and flush excess water and sodium from the body. These are also called “water pills.”
To reduce nerve impulses to the heart and blood vessels, the beta-blockers should be used, because this makes the heart beat slower and with less force. For the prevention of the formation of a hormone called angiotensin II, that normally causes blood vessels to narrow, the angiotensin converting enzyme or ACE inhibitors should be taken together with the angiotensin antagonists to better shield the blood vessels from angiotensin II.
The calcium channel blockers, the alpha-blockers and the alpha-beta-blockers are used to keep calcium from entering the muscle cells of the heart and blood vessels, reduce nerve impulses to blood vessels and slow the heartbeat respectively. Meanwhile, the nervous system inhibitors relax blood vessels by controlling nerve impulses and the vasodilators directly open blood vessels by relaxing the muscle in the vessel walls.
These high blood pressure drugs may have different uses but their ultimate goal is to cause the blood pressure to go down. Consult your physician at once to determine the right medication for you.
High Blood Pressure provides detailed information on High Blood Pressure, High Blood Pressure Symptoms, High Blood Pressure Treatments, High Blood Pressure Medications and more. High Blood Pressure is affiliated with Discount Hearing Aids
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High blood pressure medications
High blood pressure (HBP), or hypertension, is when one’s blood pressure is too high to sustain a healthy body. Some causes of HBP can be controlled like diet, smoking, exercise, weight and stress. Other causes you cannot control like gender, age and family history. And just because you don’t feel sick or affected by HBP it is still a serious condition that leads to other conditions.
All forms of heart disease are directly related to hypertension. And without HBP, patients would likely have little chance of suffering from stroke where a blood vessel bursts in the brain, destroying tissue there and the thinking processes in the area of the stroke. Hypertension exacerbates other forms of medical conditions too.
Why is it so dangerous? As blood circulates it presses against the inside walls of the artery. Frequent HBP can damage the artery wall. The wall thickens and becomes rough which leads to a build up of plaque. Thickened artery walls mean blood flow is reduced and the heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout the body. This buildup can also damage internal organs. Because of hypertension, the blood vessels in these organs have greater opportunity to burst and damage the organ’s tissue, impairing the organ’s ability to function. For example, kidneys and livers are especially susceptible to damage due to burst blood vessels from high blood pressure.
According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, about 25% of the population suffers from HBP. However, on closer examination certain groups are much more at risk. For example, Hispanic and White populations, on average, have relatively low HBP rates in the US at 20% and 23% respectively. Black Americans have an increased risk to nearly 40%.
And as you age HBP risk’s change also. People between the ages of 45 and 54 have about a 31% chance of having HBP. For those aged 55 – 64, the rate of HBP jumps to 46% for men and 55% for women. Hypertension continues to increase for ages 65 – 74 with 59% of men affected and over 74% of women. At ages over 75 years, 69% of men and 82% of women can expect to suffer from HBP.
The most common form of control for HBP is drugs. And with such a large portion of the US population suffering from hypertension, the demand is always high for new and more effective medications for high blood pressure
Currently, there are nine top blood pressure medicines on the market:
1.) Diuretics like Lasix which flushes water and sodium from the blood to reduce the volume of liquid in the blood stream which reduces the amount of strain on the heart to move fluid around.
2.) Beta Blockers (e.g. Lopressor) which reduce nerve impulses to the heart and blood vessels making the heart beat slower and with less force, thus reducing blood pressure and your heart’s workload;
3.) ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) Inhibitors (e.g. Coversyl) prevents the formation of the enzyme, angiotensin II which causes blood vessels to narrow. ACE inhibitors relax the blood vessels reducing blood pressure.
4.) Angiotensin Antagonists shield blood vessels from angiotensin II also widening blood vessels and reducing blood pressure.
5.) Calcium Channel Blockers (e.g. Plendil) keep calcium from entering muscle cells of the heart and blood vessels which makes them relax, reducing blood pressure.
6.) Alpha Blockers (e.g. Cardura) reduce nerve impulses to blood vessels which makes them relax and reduce blood pressure. Alpha Blockers are not recommended for first line defense against HBP.
7.) Alpha-Beta Blockers is a combination of both alpha and beta blockers to widen blood vessels through the alpha blocker, and reduce heart rates from the beta blockers and gain benefit of both types of effects to reduce blood pressure.
8.) Vasodilators directly open blood vessels by relaxing the muscles in the vessel walls which reduces blood pressure.
Despite the variety of drugs made to control HBP, more Americans are suffering from HBP or hypertension. But HBP is preventable to some degree which is cheaper and may forestall other serious complications of HBP. Focus on the risks you can control. Here are some tips in order to prevent high blood pressure:
- Limit your intake of food, salt and alcohol. Limiting those three things will do more to keep you healthy than any other single item.
- Secondly, exercise regularly. Walking is the best exercise and it takes as little as 30 minutes a day to see dramatic improvement to health.
- Stop smoking. Smoking has a proven link to HBP.
- And control your stress. Try such things as meditation and relaxation techniques.
The complications of HBP are well known, and as you age, according to statistics, you will more than likely have HBP. But you can work on the factors that you can control to lessen the likelihood. Examine your risk factors and do something to help yourself. The alternative is a medication with the associated side effects.
I have been a nurse for over 30 years. And as a baby boomer, I am concerned about the state of health care in the U.S. My son and daughters will be asked to change the system that will provide care for my care when I become Medicare eligible.
For more information on chronic diseases and health care please visit Health Resources. Health Resources provides timely information and tips on a variety of health care issues. Health Resources focuses primarily on prevention as a means to lower health care costs. Visit Health Resources today.
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