What are the safest prescription pills for high blood pressure/hypertension?
DAe8181 asked:
I heard some pills dehydrate you and some may reduce your blood pressure but increase your cholesterol. Are there any good meds for high blood pressure hypertension?
Hey Dr Frank, your answer is precisely my concern. From my research taking diuretics exactly cause dehydration. What I’m asking here is if anyone knows the name of particular drugs that reduce blood pressure without causing elevated cholesterol and no dehydration. I would like more pacific answers in terms of advice of what I’m actually looking for here, which is the big question above.
hypertension
I heard some pills dehydrate you and some may reduce your blood pressure but increase your cholesterol. Are there any good meds for high blood pressure hypertension?
Hey Dr Frank, your answer is precisely my concern. From my research taking diuretics exactly cause dehydration. What I’m asking here is if anyone knows the name of particular drugs that reduce blood pressure without causing elevated cholesterol and no dehydration. I would like more pacific answers in terms of advice of what I’m actually looking for here, which is the big question above.
hypertension
January 26th, 2011 at 9:13 am
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Yeah, it’s called healthy food.
January 26th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
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In hypertensive patients aged 55 or over, or black patients of any age, the first choice for initial therapy should be either a calcium-channel blocker or a thiazide-type diuretic.
In hypertensive patients younger than 55, the first choice for initial therapy should be
an ACE inhibitor.
If initial therapy was with a calcium-channel blocker or a thiazide-type diuretic and a
second drug is required, add an ACE inhibitor. If initial therapy was with an ACE inhibitor, add a calcium-channel blocker or a thiazide-type diuretic.
If treatment with three drugs is required, the combination of ACE inhibitor, calcium channel blocker and thiazide-type diuretic should be used.
EDIT
These are the SAFEST drugs based on experience of their use in literally hundreds of thousands of patients. This is why they they are quoted in the guidelines. All drugs have potential side effects and all modern guidelines use risk benefit ratio to make management decisions. In the case of these medications the adantages overwhelm any risks or side effects.
January 27th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
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If your serious about reducing your BP then an Ace inhibitor and a small aspirin once a day should do the trick.
January 29th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
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It’s good that you understand how diuretics cause dehydration, because dehydration is what causes high blood pressure.
Those soft drinks, coffee and other water alternatives that people are so hooked on act like a diuretic and pull out as much as 50% more water then they provide. Add to that the daily water loss through respiration and kidney function, and you’re talking about a lot of water going out, but not enough going back in.
Every cell in the body needs important nutrients and is dependent on water and salt to deliver these nutrients. Water and salt also provide the hydroelectric impulses that the cells need to function. Water and salt also removes toxins from the cells and has many other vital functions in the body that doctors seem to ignore when they warn you to stay away from salt.
When the body senses a drought condition, it rations the water to make it available to the most important organs. It then looks to other sources for water – one of these being the blood, since blood is made up of 94% water and salt.
Filtering the fresh water out of the blood causes the arteries to constrict and the blood to thicken. This requires the heart to have to exert more pressure to pump the blood, and this is where the high blood pressure readings come from.
Another thing that happens when the blood thickens is the salt becomes concentrated (only the water was taken out, not the salt). This is what doctors are calling “excess salt” and why they tell you to cut back. But this is wrong. There is no “excess salt”. It’s the same amount of salt that was always there – it just has the water removed. Contrary to what the medical community wants you to believe, salt does not cause high blood pressure – it regulates the blood pressure.
So, I guess the answer to your question is “none”. Medication only lowers the blood pressure artificially to make the numbers look good. This is why you’ll never get off of it once you’re on it. Treating the symptoms is no way to address a health problem – you need to correct the problem at the source, and this is something medications just can’t do.
The way to correct high blood pressure is to correct the dehydration. Once the cells have an adequate water supply, the body will stop cannibalizing water from the blood, and once the proper amount of water is back in the blood, the pressure normalizes and the salt concentration reverts back to normal.
To learn how to do this correctly, click on the link below.
January 30th, 2011 at 9:41 am
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How old are you? Dr. Frank has outline the current prescribing guidelines. If you are aged below 55 and non-black, the first line drug of choice is actually an ACE inhibitor or Angiotensin II receptor antagonist. If you are black and/or aged >55, we tend to use ca channel blockers or a thiazide diuretic. I don’t know which category you fall into.
Now thiazide diuretics can cause dehydration is high dosage, but this is rarely a problem. Just ensure you drink adequate fluids and there shouldn’t be an issue. Also, it won’t raise your cholesterol levels.
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EDIT
No ignore the water nut above. There are even quacks in the cardiology section. I can’t get away from these people. Anti hypertensive therapy with diuretics is very effective.
They decrease blood volume and venous pressure which decreases cardiac filling and decreases ventricular stroke volume and cardiac output, which then leads to a fall in arterial pressure. Long term use of diuretics result in decreased systemic vascular resistance, for reasons that are less than clear but that helps sustain the drop in arterial pressure.
Water nut said, “It’s good that you understand how diuretics cause dehydration, because dehydration is what causes high blood pressure.”
No, dehydration will cause LOW blood pressure. This is due to the intravascular space being depleted of fluid.
“Those soft drinks, coffee and other water alternatives that people are so hooked on act like a diuretic and pull out as much as 50% more water then they provide. ”
No, they are mild diuretics, providing you drink adequate water daily, tea, coffee, etc is of no consequence.
“Contrary to what the medical community wants you to believe, salt does not cause high blood pressure – it regulates the blood pressure.”
No, salt in normal amounts causes no problems and is vital for normal bodily functions; it’s EXCESS salt that we advice you cut out. If your salt levels are too high, your body will retain too much water and the volume of bodily fluids increases. There may be a link with excess salt and high blood pressure.
The difference between the medical community and the water nut is that we have data that directly correlates with that we have said. He has none. This “treating the root cause of all disease” is common with quacks. They like to claim that CM only treats the symptoms. This is nonsense. The water nuts suggestion will neither treat the cause OR the symptoms. He’s advised you that “none” would be the best option, neglecting to mention that poorly controlled hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease and cardiovascular event. Absolutely disgusting.
February 1st, 2011 at 12:25 am
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Dr. Frank gave a really good answer. Ignore the water guy since it looks like he has no idea what causes hypertension.
Still, Dr. Frank and I are not your doctors. If you are having issues with your hypertension or your medications, these should be discussed with your doctor. Your doctor will be able to explain things better and you’re face to face with him. Make sure also to ask about lifestyle and diet changes since these do a whole lot of good in lowering blood pressure.
Good luck!
February 2nd, 2011 at 12:09 am
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“Those soft drinks, coffee and other water alternatives that people are so hooked on act like a diuretic and pull out as much as 50% more water then they provide.”
What a load of tripe!
Listen to Dr Frank, Angry Doc and Rhianna on this one.