|
|
High
Blood Pressure
Treating High Blood Pressure
Here are the types of medicines used to treat high blood
pressure.
-
Diuretics are sometimes called "water pills." They
work by helping your kidneys flush excess water and salt from your
body. This reduces the amount of fluid in your blood, and your
blood pressure goes down. There are different types of diuretics.
They are often given with other high blood pressure medicines and
may be combined with another medicine in one pill.
-
Beta blockers cause your heart to beat more slowly
and with less force. Your heart pumps less blood through the blood
vessels, and your blood pressure goes down.
-
Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
keep your body from making a hormone called angiotensin II, which
normally causes blood vessels to narrow. ACE inhibitors prevent
this narrowing so your blood pressure goes down.
-
Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBS) are blood
pressure drugs that protect your blood vessels from angiotensin II.
They make the blood vessels relax and become wider, and your blood
pressure goes down.
-
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) keep calcium from
entering the muscle cells of your heart and blood vessels. This
causes blood vessels to relax, and your blood pressure goes
down.
-
Vasodilators open blood vessels by directly
relaxing the muscle in the vessel walls, causing blood pressure to
go down.
|
| |
|
|
|
