Some drugs slow your heartbeat. This leads to false information about how the body actually works. In other words, you can train harder, but still have a low heart rate artificially reduced with medication. In this case, it is worth knowing which drugs that lower the pulse, but do not lower the pressure, exist on the market. You should also carefully study their instructions for use, so as not to harm their own health. In this article, you can learn in detail about drugs that lower the pulse, but do not lower the pressure.
Beta blockers
A common example is a group of drugs called beta blockers, prescribed for patients with heart disease and high blood pressure.
These funds reduce the heart rate both during rest and training, although not always by the same indicators. In some situations, a person can exercise much more intensively without increasing the heart rate even in the aerobic zone. In this case, for example, 125 beats per minute after taking the medication may correspond to 155 without it, therefore, if your maximum aerobic heart rate is 140, you can easily over-train and hurt yourself at 125.
Some people cannot achieve their maximum aerobic heart rate otherwise than on beta-blockers. In the ranking of the most popular are:
- "Metoprolol". Cardioselective lipophilic blocker that does not have its sympathomimetic or membrane-stabilizing result. "Metoprolol" interferes with the stimulating effect of the sympathetic nervous system on the heart and causes a rapid decrease in heart rate, a decrease in cardiac output and blood pressure. Reduces the latter in patients in a prone position. In representatives of the stronger sex with typical or moderate hypertension, Metoprolol reduces the mortality rate from cardiovascular pathologies.
- "Bisoprolol". It is prescribed by doctors for arterial hypertension (a steady rise in blood pressure), prevents angina attacks.
- Nebivolol. Assign for the purpose of treatment of patients with the essential form of arterial hypertension. "Nebivolol" is included in the complex therapy of elderly patients suffering from stable chronic heart failure of moderate severity.
Antiarrhythmic drugs, calcium channel blockers, and other medications can sometimes lower your heart rate. If you are taking something with a prescription or a non-pharmacy drug, you should know if it affects your heart rate.
Diuretics
As a result of removing water from the body, blood pressure decreases. Diuretic agents interfere with the reabsorption of sodium ions, which are then removed to the outside and carry away excess fluid. In addition to them, diuretics wash out potassium ions from the body, which are needed for the cardiovascular system.
There are diuretics that protect this important element. In the ranking of the best of them:
- "Hydrochlorothiazide". Used for the treatment of patients suffering from arterial hypertension, as well as heart failure, which is accompanied by edema. Doctors also prescribe medication for cirrhosis of the liver with ascites, to cure patients with impaired renal function, including nephrotic syndrome, chronic renal failure, and acute glomerulonephritis.
- "Indapamide". Contains an element resembling a thiazide diuretic in structure. It is considered to be sulfonylurea derivative. Used in the treatment of hypertension. Due to the distinctive features of the mechanism of action, the medication causes a decrease in blood pressure without a significant effect on the volume of urination.
- Triampur. Combined medication characterized by a manifested diuretic and hypotensive effect. 2 active elements enter the structure of the substance - triamteren and hydrochlorothiazide. The effect and therapeutic results of the drug are based on the pharmacological properties and compatibility of the substances in the composition. The drug is used for the treatment of patients suffering from arterial hypertension, heart failure (in combination with cardiac glycosides), as well as in edematous syndrome, which is caused by diseases of the kidneys, liver or heart.
Neurotropic drugs
If hypertension is caused by prolonged stress, then substances that affect the central nervous system (relaxing, tranquilizers, sleeping pills) are used.
Neurotropic substances of the main effect have a great effect on the vasomotor center in the brain, reducing its activity. The best in the ranking of neurotropic drugs are:
- "Moxonidine". The active component exhibits an antihypertensive effect. This effect is realized due to the effect on the mechanisms of blood pressure regulation associated with the central nervous system. "Moxonidine" selectively binds to imidazole sensors. As a result of this, the motivation of the receptor apparatus of neurons in the solitary tract is traced. The decrease in heart rate occurs gradually.
- "Rilmenidine." The medicine functions by reducing the sympathomimetic activity to various nerve centers, and because of this, blood pressure drops. Depending on the dose, the upper and lower pressure decreases in a state of calm and activity. If the patient has small hypertension, 2 mg of the substance per day is enough for him. The tool works within a day after use, tolerance even with continuous treatment can not be traced.
- Methyldopa. It is considered a hypotensive agent of central influence. Its active metabolites in the central nervous system contribute to a decrease in heart rate by stimulating inhibitory receptors and a decrease in plasma renin activity. Used in monotherapy or in combination with other antihypertensive agents. When taken orally, the hypotensive effect is expressed after 2 hours and lasts for 6-8 hours.
What increases the frequency of contractions?
Some drugs increase your heart rate. These include medicines prescribed for thyroid disease, Ritalin and other amphetamines, and even caffeine, which is found in some drinks, painkillers, and, of course, coffee, tea, and some types of cola. Often their properties are used by athletes.
These drugs cause higher heart rates, causing a person to slow down to maintain their maximum aerobic heart rate. This means that following your heart rate, you may need to reduce the intensity of your workouts. But do not increase your maximum aerobic heart rate because of this: there is another very important factor to consider.
Although people often believe that many prescription drugs are completely safe or that the health problems associated with their consumption are completely harmless, this is not at all true. Therefore, being more restrained during exercise is important to prevent the problems of excessive stress or fatigue from training.
For athletes, progress can be a little slower, but it will still be faster with the same heart rate than with its jumps, which will improve their performance.
What should be careful with drugs that lower the pulse under normal pressure?
Despite the fact that many drugs do not directly affect the heart rate, their health effects can adversely affect muscles, metabolism, and other body systems. These include some cholesterol lowering drugs called statins, such as Mevacor, Lipator, and Altocor.
They can affect muscle function, sometimes leading to physical injury. By making a 10-bit heart rate adjustment, the risk of muscle problems and potential injuries can be reduced.
Another example is Aspirin and other NSAIDs that may interfere with proper recovery after exercise. By exercising at a lower heart rate, the effect of stress on the physical body will decrease.
For example, for a woman taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy, drugs that lower the pulse under normal pressure create potentially side effects that can adversely affect the activity of her sports. Also, the levels of certain B vitamins can decrease, affecting liver function, energy systems, lactate production and other important functions of the female body, necessary for optimal health.
For those who conduct training with a higher intensity, refusal to take these drugs may, on the contrary, be associated with possible complications. It is believed that increased physical stress is a risk factor that can cause a heart attack. While training at a lower heart rate usually does not, it actually protects the athlete from a heart attack or stroke.
Heart Rate Supplements
An integrative anti-hypertension strategy includes adopting a non-inflammatory diet and moderate exercise regimen, managing healthy stress and possible pharmaceutical treatments (among other behavioral modifications), as well as nutritional supplements. Targeted nutritional supplements not only provide our bodies with the substances necessary to protect and repair the cardiovascular, they also contribute to the production of energy in the heart and the rest of the body.
Maintaining and improving the structural integrity of the motor and blood vessels through nutritional support is critical to controlling blood pressure.
Rating of the best supplements and medicines
What drug can reduce the pulse? Below is the rating of the most popular of them:
- "Coenzyme Q10" (CoQ10) - 100 mg twice daily.
- "Nattokinase" - 50 mg twice a day.
- "Omega-3" (fish oil) - from 2 to 3 g per day.
- Magnesium - from 400 to 800 mg per day.
- Garlic - 1000 mg per day.
- Hawthorne - from 1000 to 1500 mg per day.
- Vitamin D - from 1000 to 2000 units per day.
- “Quercetin” - 500 mg twice a day.
- Folate - 800 mg per day.
- Vitamin C - 1000 mg per day.
- "Argenin" - 2 g per day.
- Chopped flaxseed - 1 - 2 tablespoons per day.
- Grape Seed Extract 150 mg per day.
While some nutraceuticals may provide a decrease in heart rate, the adoption of the funds listed in the list above is not shown for everyone. Based on the experiments conducted with them in clinical practice, optimally safe supplement options are presented below:
- For patients with congestive heart failure, it is proposed to increase the consumption of drugs that reduce the pulse, but do not lower the pressure. These include CoQ10 up to 100 mg (3 to 4 times a day).
- Add to it from 2000 to 3000 mg of L-carnitine.
- 15 g of ribose divided into daily doses.
Patients taking blood-pressure-lowering drugs, but not reducing blood pressure, should always discuss any potential changes in their blood pressure reduction indicators, including supplements and / or other lifestyle changes, with their doctors.
Medicines used to treat cardiac arrhythmias
In general, there are two reasons why a doctor may prescribe treatment for cardiac arrhythmias. First, it can cause you symptoms, such as palpitations or dizziness, and treatment may be important to relieve them. Secondly, arrhythmia can be harmful or threatening to do so.
If you have arrhythmias that require medical treatment, there are three general classes of medications that may be useful, depending on the type of disease. What drugs lower the pulse without reducing the pressure?
The first group consists of antiarrhythmic drugs specifically designed to suppress abnormal heart rhythms.
The second consists of drugs that affect the AV node and are mainly used for supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).
The third group consists of various drugs that have been shown to reduce the risk of sudden death from cardiac arrhythmias.
Antiarrhythmic drugs
These are drugs that change the electrical properties of heart tissue and the way a heart signal is distributed. Since tachycardia (arrhythmias that cause a fast heart rate) is usually associated with disturbances in the electrical signal, drugs that change it can often improve these conditions. Antiarrhythmic drugs are often effective in treating most varieties of tachycardia.
Unfortunately, they can cause intoxication of one kind or another, and, as a result, they are difficult to take. This problem is typical for almost all antiarrhythmic drugs: sometimes they make arrhythmia worse, and not better.
In the ranking of the best antiarrhythmic drugs that lower heart rate, Amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone), Sotalol (Betapace), Propafenone (Rhythmol) and Dronedaron (Multaq) are included.
Amiodarone is the most effective antiarrhythmic drug and is most often prescribed by doctors, although only when arrhythmia causes significant symptoms or poses a threat to the cardiovascular system.
What drugs lower heart rate yet?
Known as blockers: AV, beta, calcium channel blockers and Digoxin slow down the electrical signal of the heart when it passes through the AV node on the way from the atria to the ventricles. This makes narcotic AV blocking drugs useful in treating SVT.
With SVT, known as atrial fibrillation, heart-rate-lowering drugs do not stop arrhythmia, but they slow the heart rate to help eliminate symptoms. In fact, controlling your heart rate with AV blockers is often the best way to combat atrial fibrillation.
What reduces the risk of sudden death?
It is believed that some drugs reduce the risk of sudden death, possibly by reducing ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, arrhythmias that cause cardiac arrest. To do this, take drugs that reduce the pulse with high blood pressure.
Studies show that beta blockers reduce the risk of sudden death by preventing the action of adrenaline on the heart muscle, thereby reducing the likelihood of developing fatal arrhythmias. All patients who have had heart attacks or have heart failure should take beta blockers.
Another option is to reduce sudden death in patients taking statins or consuming omega-3 fatty acids, but still, the above-mentioned drugs that lower high heart rate help better.