Do Hypertension Medications Really Help?

By Chrisitan Goodman

I've mentioned this before, but it occurred again recently. While barely paying attention to the television, I caught a couple of key words. Stroke. Heart Attack. What now? I did a quick rewind and learned that this was another commercial for hypertension drugs.

Hundreds of people have shared this very situation with me as they are either candidates for high blood pressure medicine or currently take it. They turn to my High Blood Pressure Program to avoid this.

They even go so far as to share the exact names of the drugs they have been prescribed. I am pretty familiar with most of these, but the research still seems to open my eyes over and over.

Remember, that high blood pressure is elevated blood pressure usually above 140 over 90 or so.

This is a problem as it can create weakened arteries, heart disease and stroke as well as create problems for other organs.

Additional problems can include blindness, sleeplessness and erectile dysfunction. One problem with high blood pressure though is that the symptoms may not be present or noticable.

Some people are painfully aware of symptoms though including blurry eye sight, headaches, sweating and clamminess and nausea. Measuring your blood pressure is only true way to validate high blood pressure.

One elevated reading does not necessarily indicate chronic high blood pressure. Regular checks are necessary.

It is important to be informed of the potential side effects of medication before you start taking it. Four types of medication I am sharing today are ACE Inhibitors, Beta Blockers, Calcium Channel Blockers and Diuretics.

The ACE Innhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme) relax blood vessels by blocking angiotensin II production. This is a hormone responsible for narrowed blood vessels. Some commonly prescribed are: benazepril, captopril, enalapril, lisinopril, quinapril and ramipril.

Accompanying the drugs are possible side effects such as chronic coughing, headaches, chest pain and even kidney disease.

Now let's look at Beta Blockers. These drugs reduce nerve signals to the heart and blood vessels which causes the heart to beat slower reducing blood pressure. Commonly prescribed beta blockers include: acebutolol (Sectral), atenolol (Tenormin), carvedilol (Coreg), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL), nadolol (Corgard), penbutolol (Levatol), propranolol (Inderal) and timolol (Blocadren).

Side effects include: fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, impotence, depression, memory loss and even hallucenations.

Now let's look at calcium channel blockers. Calcium is prevented from entering the heart and blood vessel muscle cells. This prevents the blood vessels from constricting and lowering blood pressure. Some of these drugs are amlodipine, fedodipine, nifedipine and verapamil.

Nausea, heartburn, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sexual dysfunction can occur. More serious is stroke and heart attack " one of the very things the drug is designed to prevent.

Diuretics or water pills flush the body of fluid and sodium making it so that the blood vessels do not hold as much fluid, and in turn lowering blood pressure. Common diuretics include: chlorthalidone (Thalitone), furosemide (Lasix), hydrochlorothiazide (Esidrix) and indapamide (Lozol).

Male breast enlargement, impotence, menstrual cycle irregularities and fever and blurry vision can become present along with these drugs.

It's no surprise that people either want to avoid high blood pressure medication or get off the drugs altogether. I do however urge you to exercise caution by reducing your medication slowly and with your doctor's knowledge.

Don't worry that your doctor will be harder to convince. Doing it gradually and continuing to monitor your blood pressure with your doctor will make the transition easier to swallow.

Introduct the program but continue to take your medication. Continue to monitor your blood pressure. As it begins to lower, see your doctor and discuss lowering your medicine. Eventually you can do this until the drugs are no longer needed. - 31820

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