Increasing blood pressure is a serious problem that affects more and more people every year. Hypertension develops for various reasons, but one of the most common is fluid retention in the body. Due to the increased permeability of the walls of the vessels for sodium ions, the liquid is retained in them and causes swelling and narrowing. Therefore, the pressure rises. In the mid-20th century, they discovered this cause and found that diuretics for hypertension can become very effective. Therefore, they began to be widely used in various diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
What happens in the body with hypertension
Increased blood pressure is becoming more common, and even in people under 40 years old. The disease is caused by a violation of vascular tone.
This happens for various reasons, for example, due to malnutrition, an abundance of stress or a sedentary lifestyle. Hypertension pressure rises slightly at first, for a short time. But without proper treatment, the vessels become thinner and damaged due to increased load, heart failure occurs. Over time, spasms of blood vessels become more frequent, they narrow even more, which is the reason for the constant
increase in pressure. This disease must be treated in the initial stages, until irreversible changes in the functioning of the heart and other organs have begun.
Why diuretics are effective for hypertension
Scientists have found that in many cases diuretics lower blood pressure even better than special drugs. This is due to the fact that diuretics remove water and excess sodium from the body. Due to this, the intravascular volume of fluid is reduced. In addition, diuretics reduce the burden on the heart and remove swelling.
And some of them may also have a slight vasodilating effect. That is why, after some time after their intake, the pressure decreases. And with constant use, diuretics reduce the possibility of developing complications of hypertension, for example, stroke or myocardial infarction. But doctors warn against uncontrolled hobby for such means. A diuretic with pressure is prescribed in certain cases and exclusively as part of complex therapy. Only a doctor can determine whether a diuretic can improve the condition of the patient, and what dose is needed for this. After all, these drugs do not treat the disease itself, but only relieve symptoms, alleviating the patient's condition. Therefore, a patient with hypertension should in no case be given up on special drugs to treat this disease.
When are diuretics prescribed for hypertension
- For elderly patients, in whom the pressure most often rises due to fluid retention and vascular edema. In most cases, many hypotensive drugs are contraindicated in such patients.
- If concomitant heart failure has developed due to hypertension.
- With isolating systolic hypertension, that is, when the "upper" pressure rises more strongly.
- With osteoporosis.
Side effects of diuretics
Diuretics for hypertension are not a panacea. With excessive and uncontrolled use, the patient is at great risk. After all, these drugs can cause such side effects:
- increased weakness and fatigue associated with a lack of potassium;
- salt deposition caused by a delay in calcium in the body;
- sleep disturbances due to rapid urination;
- in men, while taking such drugs, problems with potency often arise;
- dizziness, muscle weakness, anxiety, nausea, or vomiting may also occur.
You can avoid the appearance of such symptoms if you reduce the dose of taking the medicine. Studies have proven that its effectiveness in this case will not be less.
What groups are diuretics divided into?
The name of most diuretics is not always known even to patients who are treated with their help. This is due to the fact that all diuretics can be divided into three large groups depending on the mechanism of their action.
- Thiazide diuretics are considered the most effective for reducing pressure, especially systolic, because they best remove water and salts from the body. This group includes Indapamide, Metlazone, Polythiazide, and others.
Loop diuretics for hypertension are used less often, mainly in emergency cases. They affect the function of the kidneys, intensively removing all types of salts from the body, even very important for the work of the cardiovascular system of potassium. This is "Lasix", many famous "Furosemide" and others.
Potassium-sparing diuretics remove sodium salts through the kidneys, while maintaining a normal concentration of potassium. Therefore, they are most useful specifically for patients with cardiovascular problems. The most famous of these are Amyloride or Triamteren.
Aldosterone antagonists themselves do not remove fluid from the body, but block the production of the hormone responsible for its retention. These are Aldacton, Veroshpiron and others.
What diuretics are prescribed for hypertension
With increased pressure, various diuretics are used depending on the severity of the disease and the presence of complications. Only a doctor can determine which medicine is best to take. The list of diuretics used for hypertension has grown significantly in recent years. Modern drugs have almost no effect on metabolic processes in the body and, accordingly, have fewer side effects. Such diuretics of the older generation, such as Furosemide or Hypothiazide, could be taken only in intermittent courses. This is not very suitable for patients with hypertension, since it does not allow to constantly monitor the level of pressure. More modern diuretics are synthetic drugs. When creating them, they tried to make a medicine that would be the most harmless and effective.
Torasemide and Indapamide meet these requirements, which allows them to be prescribed for elderly patients with hypertension. Often with elevated pressure, Chlortiazide, Benzthiazide, Clopamide and others are also used. The strongest diuretic - “Torasemide” or a similar “Lasix” for hypertension are used only in emergency cases.
Features of the use of diuretics
- During treatment, you should limit the use of salty foods, alcoholic beverages, and certain medications.
- With hypertension, diuretics are usually prescribed in small doses and in long courses. If addiction occurs and the drug no longer has such an effect, you need not to increase the dosage, but change it to another.
- Diuretics are not prescribed for young patients, as well as patients with obesity and diabetes.
- Most often, diuretics are prescribed once a day, it is recommended to drink them in the morning.
- If the drug removes potassium from the body, it is necessary to replenish its deficiency with the help of vitamin complexes.
- During treatment, you must strictly follow all the doctor’s recommendations and regularly take blood and urine tests to monitor kidney function.
Folk diuretics
For patients with hypertension, regular intake of diuretics is very important. But synthetic drugs are recommended to be taken in courses because of the possibility of getting used to them or the development of side effects. Therefore, in many cases it is advisable to replace them with folk remedies. Some foods and herbs have diuretic properties. The most powerful diuretics are oats, raw beets, fresh cucumber, parsley and celery, pumpkin, as well as gourds - watermelon and melon. Patients with hypertension often need to include them in their diet.
It is also useful to drink cranberry juice or a rosehip decoction, some kind of diuretic collection, and instead of water - cucumber juice. A feature of such natural diuretics is the absence of side effects, a milder effect and safety. But they act slowly, so such treatment requires more time and effort. You can also not use folk remedies in conjunction with synthetic diuretics, as this can lead to a large loss of fluid by the body.
Composition of the collection for hypertension
Quite often, herbs are used instead of drugs to remove fluid from the body and reduce pressure. But as an independent remedy for hypertension, they are not used. They drink decoctions of herbs and diuretic teas at the initial stage of the development of the disease or during remission, in no case stopping the main treatment. Most often, bearberry, leaves of lingonberry or birch, burdock and dandelion root, raspberry, fennel, lingonberry and viburnum are used as part of the collection. You can buy a ready-made diuretic collection at the pharmacy, in which all herbs are already in the right dosage. In addition to plants with a diuretic effect, they also include other components.
With different forms of hypertension, they are different. Therefore, the composition of the herbal decoction should also be recommended by the doctor. There are several types of them:
- if the patient has a rapid pulse, you need to take fees, which include valerian and motherwort;
- if hypertension is accompanied by a slow pulse, lily of the valley and hawthorn are useful;
- with hypertension, developing on the basis of renal failure, bearberry or hop cones are added to the collection;
- in case of vascular disorders, mint, oregano or walnut partitions are needed;
- it is very useful for hypertensive patients to drink a decoction of dill seed (in addition to the diuretic effect, it soothes, relieves headaches and reduces pressure).