Monday, February 2, 2009

How Much do High Blood Pressure Medications Actually Help?

By Christian Goodman

Stroke! Heart Attack! Huh? This is what I caught while only kind of paying attention to an commercial the other night. I hit rewind to see what they were talking about. You guessed it. Potential side effects of hypertension drugs.

I regularly receive emails from people who are also desperate to avoid these side effects and others due to the medication.

Many people have provided specific names of the medications they have been prescribed which led to additional research on side effects. While this is not new information, I was rather surprised again to review just how serious the side effects can be.

140 over 90 is typically considered high blood pressure.

Heart attack and stroke can occur due to high blood pressure. Other vital organs can also be jeopardized such as teh eyes, kidneys and brain.

High blood pressure can also lead to insomnia, erectile dysfunction and sight loss. Since the symptoms can be very subtle or even non existent, it has earned the name "silent killer."

Many people do experience some symptoms. Blurry vision, headaches and nausea are common. Measuring blood pressure is the only way to truly deduce that is is exists though.

Remember that one single reading is not a good indicator. It needs to be checked regularly.

If you are prescribed high blood pressure medication, you should be aware of possible effects. Four key types of hypertension drugs are: Diuretics, Calcium Channel Blockers, Beta Blockers and ACE Inhibitors.

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.

Side affects associated with ACE inhibitors are lingering cough, headaches, chest pains 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).

Dizziness, impotence, memory loss and fatigue can occur with beta blockers.

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.

And the side effects of these can include heartburn, difficulty swallowing, sexual dysfunction and even stroke and heart attack. These are problems the drugs are actually supposed 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).

Side effects include: electrolyte imbalances, impotence, breast enlargement in men (gynecomastia), increased blood sugar and blurred eye sight.

If you want to get off hypertension drugs, I recommend doing it gradually.

My all natural High Blood Pressure Program works to eliminate the need for the drugs. You're doctor may be hesitant, but most traditional doctors are. You're proof will be in the numbers.

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.

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