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A whole range of drugs have been developed over the last 40 years for hypertension - better known as high blood pressure. While blood pressure seems the same issue for everyone the response to thiazide diuretics and loop diuretics drugs for blood pressure also varies too.
Even though it is most common in people who are over 50 , even young people can have raised blood pressure, and may need to be on medication. The first big breakthrough in man made treatment was the introduction of a drug called propranolol. It quickly made a big impact though of course like any prescription drug it can have side effects. If your reading is consistently measuring 140/90 or higher, your doctor may want you to consider having medication for blood pressure control.
Blood pressure medications have some adverse side effects, and like all medication should be used as a last resort after things like diet and exercise have been tried. It is very important high blood pressure does not go untreated as your risk of stroke, diabetes and fatal heart attacks increases. Lifestyle factors have a big role to play to prevent critical high blood pressure causing death.
One class of drug that has proven itself over time is known as the diuretic class of drugs. They work by making the body lose fluid via the kidneys. This reduces the volume of liquid your heart is pumping and therefore reducing its workload.
Diuretic drugs can be divided into three groups :
Loop Diuretics , thiazide diuretics and potassium sparing diuretics
Loop diuretics work on an area called the ascending loop of Henle in your kidneys. Thiazide diuretics work on a slightly different area as do the potassium sparing diuretics.
Loop diuretics
This group includes bumetanide, furosemide and torasemide.
Potassium sparing diuretics
This group includes amiloride, triamterene and spironolactone.
Thiazide diuretics
This group includes bendroflumethiazide, chlorthalidone, cyclopenthiazide, metolazone, indapamide and xipamide.
Thiazide and related drugs have been used very successfully over the years and proven their value in large scale clinical trials. New medicinal compounds have come to market but these older drugs still have a place in therapy. Researchers have wanted to test drugs against each other over time in large scale clinical trials. Many questions have been asked.
The most important being for you : " How quickly do diuretics work ?"
Other questions have included whether health can improve or deteriorate. For example, atenolol is important in treating coronary heart disease but exercise tolerance can be reduced because the drug stops the heart from working too hard and prevent an angina attack.
If it is taken with bendroflumethiazide, it has been found recently that your chances of getting type 2 diabetes mellitus increases (if there is a family history of diabetes).
The most important thing to keep in mind when taking blood pressure medications is that they need to be taken consistently, even though you might feel well. You can not take them just when you feel like you should. Certainly there are potential side effects for blood pressure medication. Your doctor will assess this risk when looking at your medical file.
For more related information visit http://www.blood-pressure-readings.com bloodPressure Readings . Get knowledge on dealing with symptoms, drug side effects and improving your life!
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Article added to SearchWarp.com on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 View other articles written by Healthfanatic(443)
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