Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death. The number of people who die from cardiovascular disease every year is as high as 12 million people. hypertension is the biggest hidden danger in cardiovascular disease. Preventing cardiovascular disease requires starting with hypertension.
October 8 of each year is "National Hypertension Day ". The theme of this year's National Hypertension Day is "Know blood pressure and meet the standards for lowering blood pressure." is essential for treating hypertension, and most patients with moderate to severe hypertension need to take antihypertensive drugs every day. So, what side effects will long-term use of antihypertensive drugs bring to the body? How do patients with hypertension take antihypertensive drugs safely?
016 Common side effects that may occur in the body for a long time by taking antihypertensive drugs
1. Dry cough
Some patients with hypertensive patients may experience dry cough because antihypertensive drugs can increase the water in alveolar , resulting in air not circulating in the alveolar gap. Patients need to expel air through dry cough. A dry cough is not dangerous and generally not paid attention to, but if the dry cough continues to aggravate, you should seek medical treatment in time.
2. Ankle edema
diuretic antihypertensive drugs will cause changes in water and electrolytes in the body. When the electrolyte in the body is chaotic, , it is easy to cause ankle edema. If patients with hypertension experience ankle edema, they can raise their lower limbs, which can promote blood flow back to the lower limbs to reduce edema.
3. Constipation
Most antihypertensive drugs can lower the blood cholesterol levels, and cholesterol is an important substance in the human body to make large intestinal mucus. Insufficient intestinal mucus can easily lead to dry stool and cause constipation. Patients should eat a reasonable diet, eat more fruits and vegetables, and eat less high-fat foods. It is recommended to rub your abdomen frequently in the morning and evening every day to promote defecation.
4. Abnormal heart rate
Some antihypertensive drugs such as benzodiazepines, lovastatins and diuretics can speed up the heart rate. The mechanism of action of these drugs is to block the electrical signals of the heart and prevent the heart from being "strictly commanded", thus achieving the purpose of lowering blood pressure. Other antihypertensive drugs may cause a slower heart rate. Patients with hypertensive who have arrhythmia and should replace appropriate antihypertensive drugs under the guidance of a doctor according to their individual situation.
5. Nausea, anorexia and indigestion
Nausea, anorexia and fatigue are also one of the common side effects of hypertension. This is because antihypertensive drugs mainly achieve the purpose of lowering blood pressure by blocking vascular endothelial signals. However, in addition to lowering blood pressure, the vascular endothelium also plays an important role in the digestive system. If it acts on the gastrointestinal vascular endothelium, nausea, anorexia and indigestion may also occur. It is recommended that you check the serum electrolyte first to see if your relevant indicators are normal. If there is any abnormality, you also need to consider replacing antihypertensive drugs.
6. Dizziness and headache
The mechanism of action of most antihypertensive drugs is to achieve the purpose of antihypertensiveness by reducing the flow rate of blood in the blood vessels, thereby reducing the stimulation of the blood vessel wall. However, the brain consumes a lot of oxygen. If you do not get enough blood oxygen supply, it is easy to cause dizziness and headache. It is recommended to choose a suitable dose of long-acting antihypertensive drugs under the guidance of a doctor to gradually drop the blood pressure value within a few weeks, rather than dropping it all at once.
02 What antihypertensive drugs do doctors usually prescribe for patients with hypertension?
Currently, commonly used antihypertensive drugs in clinical practice are divided into five categories, namely diuretics, beta blockers (BBs), calcium channel antagonists (CCBs), such as holobars, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), such as Prils and angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ARBs) such as sartans.
Horizontals, Priligy, Sartans, and diuretics are similar to those of β-blockers. Therefore, the effects of these five antihypertensive drugs are not much different in terms of antihypertensive effects. However, for each person, the antihypertensive effects of different drugs may be significantly different.
When patients choose drugs, considering that they need to take antihypertensive drugs for a long time, they should choose drugs that can be reimbursed within the medical insurance as much as possible. Moreover, when choosing drugs, they should follow the doctor's advice and do not mind the combination of medication because they are worried about the side effects. Compared with the complications of hypertension, the side effects of antihypertensive drugs are minimal.
It should be noted that patients with hypertension in also need to monitor their blood pressure regularly after taking the medication. Patients who have just started taking the medication can retest their blood pressure after one month to judge the effect of lowering blood pressure and observe whether the treatment plan needs to be adjusted according to the results.
Some patients are worried that taking antihypertensive drugs for a long time will cause drug resistance. In fact, it is not because the drug is not effective. A large part of the reason is that the hypertension is not controlled and the blood pressure has risen again. At this time, you should consult a doctor to change the antihypertensive drugs or consider combining drugs.
On average, there is one hypertensive patient in every four adults. This is no stranger. In fact, hypertension is not scary. It is possible to have hypertension complications, but as long as blood pressure is controlled properly, it can effectively prevent hypertension complications.
Therefore, patients with hypertension should follow the doctor's advice and take the medicine on time. Do not stop the medicine because they are afraid of the side effects of the medicine. Compared with complications of hypertension, the side effects of antihypertensive drugs are really small. In addition to taking antihypertensive drugs on time, daily regular exercise and low-salt and low-fat diet for can also have a good antihypertensive effect.
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References:
[1] National Hypertension Day | Reasonable exercise can reduce blood pressure, believe it or not!·Healthy China.2020-10-09
[2] Popular science on health knowledge: Top ten misunderstandings of medication use for hypertension·Healthy Ningxia.2022-08-2
