Blood Pressure Medicines (original) (raw)

Also called: Antihypertensive medicines, High blood pressure medicines

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Summary

What is high blood pressure?

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is when blood puts too much pressure against the walls of your arteries. Almost half of American adults have high blood pressure, usually with no symptoms. But it can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack, and kidney disease.

What lifestyle changes can help lower high blood pressure?

Healthy lifestyle changes can help reduce high blood pressure:

What if lifestyle changes alone cannot lower blood pressure?

Sometimes lifestyle changes alone cannot control or lower your high blood pressure. In that case, your health care provider may prescribe blood pressure medicines.

How do blood pressure medicines work?

The most commonly used blood pressure medicines work in different ways to lower blood pressure:

Often, two or more medicines work better than one. If these medicines do not lower your blood pressure enough, your provider may suggest that you take another type of blood pressure medicine.

While taking the medicines, it is still important to keep up with your healthy lifestyle changes. Doing both helps keep blood pressure lower than lifestyle changes or medicines alone.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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