Types of High Blood Pressure Medicine

High blood pressure is a silent killer. In fact, it is responsible for 29% of the deaths amongst the American population. This medical condition advances slowly and silently. If left untreated it may become a precursor to deadly and often fatal consequences such as stroke, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. A combination of medicines and lifestyle changes are prescribed by doctors and health professionals to control and manage the condition.

Doctors after having made a diagnosis and determining the underlying causes, prescribe the medicines to treat this condition. High blood pressure may have multiple reasons and each reason is treated by a different category of medicines. The treatment may consist of medicines across different categories.

Some of these types or categories of medicines are mentioned below.

Diuretics: These medicines promote increased urination and help to reduce the overall volume of the blood in the body.

Beta-blockers: These medicines help to reduce the rate at which the heart pumps blood. As a result, the force of the blood on the walls of the arteries is reduced.

Vasodilators: These medicines help to relax and dilate the muscles of the blood vessels, promote the flow of blood and reduce high blood pressure.

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE): These medicines inhibit the growth of the hormone Angiotensin that is responsible for constricting the arteries. This helps to dilate the vessels and increase the flow of blood, thereby reducing blood pressure.

Angiotensin II receptor antagonist and calcium channel blockers are two of the other categories that may be prescribed by a physician to treat hypertension.