Wrapping Up The Blood Pressure Medications Causing A Cough
Dont judge any one particular medication because of its possible side effects. Every medicine has them and not everybody is affected by them.
No drug is more superior than the other. The value of each drug and how it affects blood pressure is judged on an individual basis 11.
Most often, physicians can tailor a medication and treatment for each individual patient. The physician will often prescribe a medication that controls blood pressure with no side effects or coughing.
Disclaimer: The medications, medicine information, side effects listed in this article are for information and reference only. Blood Pressure Explained does not endorse or recommend any specific medication. Its important to consult with your physician and pharmacist about any medication you may be taking as they are the best sources of information. Never stop taking medication or change your dose without consulting with the prescribing physician.
When Treatment Is Recommended
Everyone with high blood pressure is advised to make healthy lifestyle changes.
Whether medicine is also recommended depends on your blood pressure reading and your risk of developing problems such as heart attacks or strokes.
Your doctor will carry out some blood and urine tests, and ask questions about your health to determine your risk of other problems:
- if your blood pressure is consistently above 140/90mmHg , but your risk of other problems is low you’ll be advised to make some changes to your lifestyle
- if your blood pressure is consistently above 140/90mmHg and your risk of other problems is high you’ll be offered medicine to lower your blood pressure, in addition to lifestyle changes
- if your blood pressure is consistently above 160/100mmHg you’ll be offered medicine to lower your blood pressure, in addition to lifestyle changes
A Trend Toward Lower Targets
Finding safe, effective ways to manage blood pressure has been a matter of growing interest. “Nowadays, there’s a trend to control blood pressure more aggressively than in the past,” says Dr. C. Michael Gibson, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an interventional cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Although the prior standard was a blood pressure target of less than 140/90 for most people, a goal of 120/80 appears to be even more effective for preventing heart attacks, strokes, and death from heart disease.
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How Is High Blood Pressure Treated
Treatment depends on how high your blood pressure is. For people whose systolic reading falls in the range 120 to 129 and the diastolic reading is equal to or less than 80, lifestyle changes are usually recommended over medications. These may include:
- Losing weight if you are overweight
- Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables
- Eating less salt
- More physical activity
- Limiting alcohol.
If treatment is considered necessary, sometimes more than one medication is prescribed. Medications for high blood pressure include:
- Diuretics
Other Medicines For High Blood Pressure
Apart from the five main classes of medicines listed above, sometimes other medicines are used to lower blood pressure. For example:
Methyldopa or alpha-blockers are sometimes used if there are problems with the more commonly used medicines. Doxazosin is an alpha-blocker commonly added when blood pressure is high despite the treated person being on other medicines.
Spironolactone is another stronger ‘water’ tablet sometimes used as an add-on option for blood pressure which is difficult to control. Spironolactone is not usually given alongside ACE inhibitors or ARBs because the combination can cause potassium levels in the body to become dangerously high. Regular blood tests to check for this are needed if you are on this medication or medicine combination.
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Combination Antihypertensive Drugs: Recommendations For Use
NEIL S. SKOLNIK, M.D., JONATHAN D. BECK, M.D., MATHEW CLARK, M.D., Abington Memorial Hospital, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania
Am Fam Physician. 2000 May 15 61:3049-3056.
The recommendation for first-line therapy for hypertension remains a beta blocker or diuretic given in a low dosage. A target blood pressure of less than 140/90 mm Hg is achieved in about 50 percent of patients treated with monotherapy two or more agents from different pharmacologic classes are often needed to achieve adequate blood pressure control. Single-dose combination antihypertension therapy is an important option that combines efficacy of blood pressure reduction and a low side effect profile with convenient once-daily dosing to enhance compliance. Combination antihypertensives include combined agents from the following pharmacologic classes: diuretics and potassium-sparing diuretics, beta blockers and diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and diuretics, angiotensin-II antagonists and diuretics, and calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors.
Combination Drugs for the Treatment of Hypertension
ACE = angiotensin-converting enzyme.
*Estimated cost to the pharmacist based on average wholesale prices for 30 days of therapy at lowest given dosage in Red book. Montvale, N.J.: Medical Economics Data, 1999. Cost to the patient will be higher, depending on prescription filling fee.
Adapted from Drugs for hypertension. Med Lett Drugs Ther 1999 41:238.
Medicines For High Blood Pressure
Several types of medicine can be used to help control high blood pressure.
Many people need to take a combination of different medicines.
- if you’re under 55 years of age you’ll usually be offered an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin-2 receptor blocker
- if you’re aged 55 or older, or you’re any age and of African or Caribbean origin you’ll usually be offered a calcium channel blocker
You may need to take blood pressure medicine for the rest of your life. But your doctor might be able to reduce or stop your treatment if your blood pressure stays under control for several years.
It’s really important to take your medicine as directed. If you miss doses, it will not work as well.
The medicine will not necessarily make you feel any different, but this does not mean it’s not working.
Medicines used to treat high blood pressure can have side effects, but most people do not get any.
If you do get side effects, do not stop taking your medicine. Talk to your doctor, who may advise changing your medicine.
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How Is High Blood Pressure Diagnosed
It is not uncommon for your blood pressure to go high occasionally however, it is persistently high blood pressure that is a concern. For this reason, if a doctor or nurse takes your blood pressure and it is high but you dont have any risk factors or symptoms, then at least two other separate measurements should be taken before you are diagnosed with high blood pressure.
Before getting your blood pressure taken you should avoid the following for at least an hour before the measurement:
- Strenuous exercise
- Eating
- Stressful situations.
Sit down for at least five minutes before the reading is taken and dont talk while it is being measured.
Other tests may be ordered if your doctor concludes you have high blood pressure. These may include blood tests, an electrocardiogram, and sometimes a chest x-ray.
Blood Pressure Medications That May Increase The Risk Of Ed
One reason erectile dysfunction becomes more common with age is that older men are more likely to be on medication, and ED is often a side effect of many common drugs. In fact, it’s been estimated that 25% of all ED is caused by medication.
The following drug classes have been linked to increased risk of ED. If you have concerns about medications you are taking, talk with your healthcare provider about other options available to you. You should never start or stop a blood pressure medication without medical supervision.
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Types Of Blood Pressure Medicines
There are four main types of medicine to lower blood pressure.
- . ACE inhibitors help to control hormones that play a role in blood pressure control. They help the blood vessels to relax and widen, lowering blood pressure. Most have names that end in pril, for example, enalapril, lisinopril, perindopril and Ramipril.
- . These work in a similar way to ACE inhibitors, controlling the hormones that affect blood pressure, so you probably wont take ACE inhibitors and ARBs at the same time. Theyre usually used if ACE inhibitors are causing side effects. Most have names that end in artan, for example, candesartan, irbesartan, losartan, valsartan and olmesartan.
- . These allow the artery walls to relax, making them wider. This allows more blood to pass through, lowering blood pressure. Most have names that end in pine , for example, amlodipine, felodipine and nifedipine.
- . These are sometimes known as water pills because they remove excess fluid from the body, including from the blood. This means there is less pressure on the blood vessel walls. Most have names that end in ide, for example, indapamide and bendroflumethiazide.
Sometimes these medications wont be suitable, for example if youre pregnant or breastfeeding, if you have certain other health problems, or youre taking other medications which could react with them.
Alternatively, you might need to take another type of medication as well to lower your blood pressure enough.
The other medications available include:
Does High Blood Pressure Lead To Weight Gain
Some high blood pressure medications can, in fact, lead to weight gain. Common offenders include older beta-blockers such as propranolol and atenolol . There could be several reasons for this — including the fact that the medications can make patients feel tired and thus less likely to exercise.
- Minoxidil tablets — used only when other antihypertensive medications have failed — can also cause weight gain.
- Weight gain is also listed as a common side effect of doxazosin . Diuretics are more likely to cause weight loss.
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Younger People With High Blood Pressure :
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Start here. ACE Inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers , are recommended as first line therapy because they lower blood pressure and the risk of stroke and heart disease. ACE inhibitors are cheap, well tolerated medications that end in -il . ARBs are very similar to ACE inhibitors but do not carry the dry cough side-effect that ACE inhibitors have. Common ARBs are losartan, irbesartan and valsartan.
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Another option. Beta blockers are a second option for younger patients who cant take ACE inhibitors or ARBs, as some studies show that they dont provide the same protection against stroke risk. Commonly used beta blockers include atenolol, metoprolol and carvedilol.
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Final notes. Studies show improved blood pressure in patients taking the above options rather than diuretics and calcium channel blockers.
Depression Rates In People Taking Different Blood Pressure Drugs
To see if commonly prescribed blood pressure drugs might influence a person’s risk of developing depression, Danish researchers scrutinized a decade’s worth of data from their national health registry. Their findings, summarized below, were published in the September 2020 issue of Hypertension.
Who: All 5.4 million people living in Denmark in 2005, except for those diagnosed with depression or prescribed an antidepressant medication.
When: Researchers tracked the participants’ health from 2005 to 2015.
What: Just over 3.7 million people received a prescription for a blood pressure drug during the 10-year study period. Researchers focused on 41 drugs from four different classes of blood pressure drugs. Diuretics were the most commonly prescribed, followed by ACE inhibitors and ARBs, calcium-channel blockers, and beta blockers.
How: In people taking the different medications, researchers assessed the rate of depression, which was determined by a diagnosis by a clinician or use of antidepressants.
Key findings: None of the diuretics appeared to affect depression risk. In each of the other drug classes, at least two drugs were linked with a lower risk of depression: enalapril , ramipril , amlodipine , verapamil , propranolol , atenolol , bisoprolol , and carvedilol .
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Why Do Blood Pressure Medications Cause Coughing
Battling high blood pressure with medication can be very difficult. Adding a cough to the situation complicates the problem even more. Youre probably wondering, why do blood pressure medications cause coughing?
Blood pressure medications, like ACE inhibitors, cause coughing because they affect how the kidneys filter impurities out of the blood. Kinins, the insoluble by-products of the medication, are unfiltered out of the blood. Instead, they lodge in the brachial tubes of the lungs. The coughing is the body attempting to expel the kinins from the lungs.
As a person ages, this makes the problem worse because an older person loses kidney function. This makes it harder for the body to clear drugs from the kidneys and blood 5.
Even if a person stops taking the drugs or switches to a different medication, the coughing may persist for months. This is because the kinins in the lungs takes some time to clear out of the lungs.
Unfortunately, some people who have a cough from medication may be diagnosed as having another problem, like a sore throat or bronchitis.
Have you ever wondered how blood pressure medications lower blood pressure? Check out my blog post on it here, How Blood Pressure Medicine Works.
Is Losartan Or Lisinopril More Effective
In a review of 61 studies comparing ARBs to ACE inhibitors , both categories of drugs were found to have similar long-term effects on blood pressure. The authors also concluded that both classes of drugs have an equivalent effect on death, cardiovascular events, major adverse events, quality of life, and risk factors such as lipid levels, diabetes mellitus, and left ventricular mass and function.
In a small study of patients with kidney disease, losartan and lisinopril had similar effects on kidney function and blood pressure.
The most effective medication for you should be determined by your doctor, who can look at the full picture of your medical condition, history, and other medications you are taking.
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What Blood Pressure Medicine Has The Lowest Side Effects
by Contributing Writer / in Health
Common in nearly every medication, side effects are no stranger to blood pressure medications as every blood pressure medication has some kind of side effects.
Which blood pressure medication that has the lowest side effects depends on how you react to specific medications and what side effects you find most bothersome.
Most commonly prescribed blood pressure medications have an array of similar side effects. Depending on your health status, you may be able to take a diuretic, which does not have many of the side effects associated with beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, alpha blockers and calcium channel blockers.
Are Losartan Vs Lisinopril The Same
Although both medications work on the renin-angiotensin system, they work on different areas of the system, but both medications lower blood pressure and are used for other heart or kidney conditions. They also have other differences in dosing, warnings, and price.
Other common ACE inhibitors you may have heard of include Lotensin , Vasotec , Accupril , and Altace .
Other ARBs you may have heard of include Edarbi , Atacand , Avapro , Micardis , Diovan , and Benicar .
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Are Blood Pressure Medications Right For You
When youre first diagnosed with high blood pressure you might not need to take medications. Your doctor or nurse might suggest you make healthy changes to your lifestyle first, which could be enough to lower your blood pressure to a healthy level, but if thats not enough on its own, they may suggest you take medications as well.
The role of blood pressure medicines is to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. So, whether you would benefit from them depends not only on your blood pressure, but on your overall health and risk of disease. Your doctor will consider a number of things, including:
- what your are
- your age, ethnicity, family history and lifestyle
- any which raise your risk of heart attack or stroke, such as high cholesterol, being overweight, diabetes, kidney problems and diseases of the blood vessels such as coronary heart disease
- if members of your family have high blood pressure, strokes or heart attacks, or have done in the past
- any other illnesses you may have and medications youre taking, and any side effects
How high does your blood pressure need to be before starting medications?Your doctor will consider your when deciding whether to prescribe medications.
Your doctor will want to bring your blood pressure down to a target level, for example around 140/90mmHg.
Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors are blood pressure medications that inhibit the activity of the enzyme angiotensin converting enzyme , which is important for controlling blood pressure.
Angiotensin II is a very potent chemical formed in the blood by ACE from, angiotensin I. When formed, angiotensin II causes the muscles surrounding blood vessels to contract, thus narrowing the vessels and increasing blood pressure. ACE inhibitors are medications that inhibit the activity of ACE which decreases the production of angiotensin II. As a result, these medications cause the blood vessels to enlarge or dilate, and this reduces blood pressure. This lower blood pressure makes it easier for the heart to pump blood and can improve the function of a failing heart. In addition, the progression of kidney disease due to high blood pressure or diabetes is slowed.
Common side effects of this ACE inhibitors
The other two types of CCBs are referred to as the non-dihydropyridine agents. One type is verapamil and the other is diltiazem .
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Angiotensin Ii Receptor Blockers And Erectile Dysfunction
Studies have shown that angiotensin receptor blockers either have no significant negative effects or in some cases, beneficial effects on erectile function.
ARBs are a group of drugs used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. These medications work by blocking the action of a chemical which narrows the blood vessels. As a result, blood vessels widen, increasing blood flow and lowering blood pressure. In some people, this effect also improves erectile function.
Some common ARBs taken for high blood pressure include:
- Edarbi
- Diovan