Hypertension Treatment And Lifestyle Management

Hypertension Treatment

Approach Considerations

The 2016 American Diabetes Association's (ADA's) standards of medical care in diabetes also indicate that a majority of patients with diabetes mellitus have hypertension. In patients with type 1 diabetes, nephropathy is often the cause of hypertension, whereas in type 2 diabetes, hypertension is one of a group of related cardiometabolic factors.   Hypertension remains one of the most common causes of congestive heart failure (CHF). Antihypertensive therapy has been demonstrated to significantly reduce the risk of death from stroke and coronary artery disease.

Other studies have demonstrated that a reduction in BP may result in improved renal function. Therefore, earlier detection of hypertensive nephrosclerosis (using means to detect microalbuminuria) and aggressive therapeutic interventions (particularly with ACE inhibitor drugs) may prevent progression to end-stage renal disease.

Lifestyle modifications

Lifestyle modifications are essential for the prevention of high BP, and these are generally the initial steps in managing hypertension. As the cardiovascular disease risk factors are assessed in individuals with hypertension, pay attention to the lifestyles that favorably affect BP level and reduce overall cardiovascular disease risk. A relatively small reduction in BP may affect the incidence of cardiovascular disease on a population basis. A decrease in BP of 2 mm Hg reduces the risk of stroke by 15% and the risk of coronary artery disease by 6% in a given population. In addition, a prospective study showed a reduction of 5 mm Hg in the nocturnal mean BP and a possibly significant (17%) reduction in future adverse cardiovascular events if at least one antihypertensive medication is taken at bedtime.

In a study that attempted to formulate a predictive model for the risk of prehypertension and hypertension, as well as an estimate of expected benefits from population-based lifestyle modification, investigators reported that the majority of risk factors have a larger role in prehypertension and stage 1 hypertension than in stage 2 hypertension. The investigators derived multistep composite risk scores by assessing significant risk factors in the progression from prehypertension to hypertension, as well as the regression of prehypertension to normal; they indicated that as the number of risk factors included in intervention programs increases, the size of the expected mean risk score decreases. In men, the 5-year predicted cumulative risk for stage 2 hypertension decreased from 23.6% (in the absence of an intervention program) to 14% (with 6-component intervention); the results were similar in women.

Treatments and drugs

Medications to treat high blood pressure

Thiazide diuretics. Diuretics, sometimes called water pills, are medications that act on your kidneys to help your body eliminate sodium and water, reducing blood volume.

Thiazide diuretics are often the first, but not the only, choice in high blood pressure medications. Thiazide diuretics include hydrochlorothiazide (Microzide), chlorthalidone and others.

If you're not taking a diuretic and your blood pressure remains high, talk to your doctor about adding one or replacing a drug you currently take with a diuretic. Diuretics or calcium channel blockers may work better for black and older people than do angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors alone. A common side effect of diuretics is increased urination.

Beta blockers. These medications reduce the workload on your heart and open your blood vessels, causing your heart to beat slower and with less force. Beta blockers include acebutolol (Sectral), atenolol (Tenormin) and others.

When prescribed alone, beta blockers don't work as well, especially in black and older people, but may be effective when combined with other blood pressure medications.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. These medications — such as lisinopril (Zestril), benazepril (Lotensin), captopril (Capoten) and others — help relax blood vessels by blocking the formation of a natural chemical that narrows blood vessels. People with chronic kidney disease may benefit from having an ACE inhibitor as one of their medications.

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs). These medications help relax blood vessels by blocking the action, not the formation, of a natural chemical that narrows blood vessels. ARBs include candesartan (Atacand), losartan (Cozaar) and others. People with chronic kidney disease may benefit from having an ARB as one of their medications.

Calcium channel blockers. These medications — including amlodipine (Norvasc), diltiazem (Cardizem, Tiazac, others) and others — help relax the muscles of your blood vessels. Some slow your heart rate. Calcium channel blockers may work better for black and older people than do ACE inhibitors alone.

Grapefruit juice interacts with some calcium channel blockers, increasing blood levels of the medication and putting you at higher risk of side effects. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you're concerned about interactions.

Renin inhibitors. Aliskiren (Tekturna) slows down the production of renin, an enzyme produced by your kidneys that starts a chain of chemical steps that increases blood pressure.

Tekturna works by reducing the ability of renin to begin this process. Due to a risk of serious complications, including stroke, you shouldn't take aliskiren with ACE inhibitors or ARBs.

Additional medications sometimes used to treat high blood pressure

If you're having trouble reaching your blood pressure goal with combinations of the above medications, your doctor may prescribe:

Alpha blockers. These medications reduce nerve impulses to blood vessels, reducing the effects of natural chemicals that narrow blood vessels. Alpha blockers include doxazosin (Cardura), prazosin (Minipress) and others.

Alpha-beta blockers. In addition to reducing nerve impulses to blood vessels, alpha-beta blockers slow the heartbeat to reduce the amount of blood that must be pumped through the vessels. Alpha-beta blockers include carvedilol (Coreg) and labetalol (Trandate).

Central-acting agents. These medications prevent your brain from signaling your nervous system to increase your heart rate and narrow your blood vessels. Examples include clonidine (Catapres, Kapvay), guanfacine (Intuniv, Tenex) and methyldopa.

Vasodilators. These medications, including hydralazine and minoxidil, work directly on the muscles in the walls of your arteries, preventing the muscles from tightening and your arteries from narrowing.

Aldosterone antagonists. Examples are spironolactone (Aldactone) and eplerenone (Inspra). These drugs block the effect of a natural chemical that can lead to salt and fluid retention, which can contribute to high blood pressure.

To reduce the number of daily medication doses you need, your doctor may prescribe a combination of low-dose medications rather than larger doses of one single drug. In fact, two or more blood pressure drugs often are more effective than one. Sometimes finding the most effective medication or combination of drugs is a matter of trial and error.