Medication Part I: When Treating High Blood Pressure

The goal of every kind of treatment for hypertension is to reach and maintain a controlled level of blood pressure. This can be achieved either by medications or by healthy lifestyle changes. Treatments preferred would vary from person to person, as individual conditions would have to be taken into consideration. Along with these, it is also necessary to take the risk factors of the patients into consideration.

To control your blood pressure, your doctor, first of all, will advise you to make some healthy changes in your lifestyle. This is a sure part of the treatment. Life style changes may include weight loss, exercise, diet, salt restriction and the likes. Later on, if these changes fail to bring the desired results, you are prescribed with some medicines.

High BP medicines may include diuretics, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), or alpha blockers, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.

Your blood pressure treatment also depends on the “risk group” you fall into. All blood pressure patients such as pre-hypertension patients (120-139/80-89 mmHg), mild blood pressure patients (140-159/90-99 mmHg) and moderate to severe blood pressure patients (more than 140-159/90-99 mmHg) can be divided into three risk groups.

Risk Group A: These are the BP patients with no heart disease.

1) Risk Group A patients with pre-hypertension (120-139/80-89 mmHg) only need to make some changes in their lifestyle.

2) People with mild blood pressure (140-159/90-99 mmHg) are required to undergo a year long trial of lifestyle changes. If these fail, then some drugs might be prescribed.

3) People with moderate to severe blood pressure, need both lifestyle changes and medications.

Risk Group B: These are the BP patients with heart disease

1) Risk Group B patients with pre-hypertension (120-139/80-89 mmHg) only require to make some changes in their lifestyle.

2) People with mild blood pressure (140-159/90-99 mmHg) are required to undergo a six month trial of lifestyle changes only. If blood pressure does not decrease within those six months, try drug treatments.

3) People with moderate to severe blood pressure must make lifestyle changes and also take some sort of medicines.

Risk Group C: Risk factors for BP patients with diabetes, heart disease and other organ damage.

1) Risk Group C patients with pre-hypertension (120-139/80-89 mmHg) entail lifestyle changes and medications.

2) People with mild blood pressure (140-159/90-99 mmHg) are recommended to modify their lifestyle changes and have medications.

3) People with moderate to severe blood pressure desperately require lifestyle changes and intake of some sort of medi

Being a patient of hypertension you also need to know the details about the commonly prescribed medication for high blood pressure medication. In the next part of this article you can obtain this information.