Antihypertensive drugs (also called hypotensive drugs) are drugs aimed at lowering blood pressure. The introduction, development and subsequent use of drugs began around the middle of the last century, since then the arsenal of drugs aimed at combating the principal enemy of human health has been replenished every year.
Before you get acquainted directly with the drugs, you should briefly explain what arterial hypertension is. In fact, this is not even one disease, but a whole group, united by a common symptom - an increase in blood pressure. First of all, elderly patients, as well as those who are overweight, are susceptible to this disease. In addition, the risk of developing hypertension increases if one of the relatives suffered from the syndromes of this terrible disease.
Antihypertensive therapy should be prescribed by a doctor. Hypertension is precisely the case when the wrong choice of a drug can not only not give the desired effect, but also significantly worsen the patient's condition. Instead of self-medication, you need to contact a specialist who, focusing on the patient’s condition, will select the right antihypertensive drugs.
The classification of such funds currently looks as follows:
- Diuretics. Differing in the strength of the action, all drugs in this group have a similar effect: initially there is a decrease in the volume of blood circulating in the body. The reason for this phenomenon is a drop in cardiac output. Over time, the overall peripheral vascular resistance decreases, and sodium chloride reserves are depleted. Depending on the mechanism of action, the entire class of diuretics is divided into:
- potassium-sparing;
- loopback;
- carbonic anhydrase inhibitors ;
- thiazide and thiazide-like.
2. Antagonists of adrenergic receptors. These antihypertensive drugs have antiarrhythmic effects and reduce the production of certain hormones. Among these drugs, the most known are used in the treatment of diseases associated with pathological changes in blood pressure:
- alpha blockers;
- blockers of the combined type (alpha and beta);
- beta blockers.
3. Adrenergic receptor agonists. Drugs whose action is aimed at reducing the excessively active sympathetic nervous system. These include:
4. ACE inhibitors. The group of "antihypertensive drugs" includes only four types of inhibitors: libenzapril, captopril, cenonapril, lisinopril. They have anti-ischemic and renoprotective (increased renal hemodynamics) effect. In addition, a decrease in left ventricular hypertrophy during the use of drugs of this group has been proven.
5. Calcium channel blockers. This group of drugs is recommended for use by elderly patients and those suffering from isolated systolic hypertension.
6. Antagonists of angiotensin-2 receptors. Drugs belonging to this group have a pronounced ability to slow down cardiac myocardial hypertrophy , in particular, its left ventricle.
7. Aldosterone antagonists. Prevents excessive loss of calcium by the body. For example, the drug "Veroshpiron" .
8. Vasodilators. The drugs of this group include: "Nitroglycerin", "Verapamil", "Sodium nitroprusside" , etc. Their main effect is a decrease in total peripheral resistance, due to which the lumen of small vessels expands.
9. Stimulants of alpha receptors in the brain.
As can be seen from the above, antihypertensive drugs are an extensive group of drugs, each of which has special healing properties. Only a specialist can choose the right medicine in each of the subspecies of hypertension.