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High blood pressure (Hypertension) - Treatment

Alternative Names

Hypertension; HBP; Blood pressure - high

Treatment:

The goal of treatment is to reduce blood pressure so that you have a lower risk of complications.

There are many different medicines that can be used to treat high blood pressure, including:

Alpha blockers
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)
Beta-blockers
Calcium channel blockers
Central alpha agonists
Diuretics
Renin inhibitors, including aliskiren (Tekturna)
Vasodilators

Your doctor may also tell you to exercise, lose weight, and follow a healthier diet. If you have pre-hypertension, your doctor will recommend the same lifestyle changes to bring your blood pressure down to a normal range.

Often, a single blood pressure drug may not be enough to control your blood pressure, and you may need to take two or more drugs. It is very important that you take the medications prescribed to you. If you have side effects, your health care provider can substitute a different medication.

Expectations (prognosis):

Most of the time, high blood pressure can be controlled with medicine and lifestyle changes.

Complications:

Calling your health care provider:

If you have high blood pressure, you will have regularly scheduled appointments with your doctor.

Even if you have not been diagnosed with high blood pressure, it is important to have your blood pressure checked during your yearly check-up, especially if someone in your family has or had high blood pressure.

Call your health care provider right away if home monitoring shows that your blood pressure remains high or you have any of the following symptoms:

Chest pain
Confusion
Excessive tiredness
Nausea and vomiting
Severe headache
Shortness of breath
Significant sweating
Vision changes

Monitoring blood pressure

Untreated hypertension

Lifestyle changes

DASH diet

High blood pressure tests

Exercise can lower blood pressure

Blood pressure check

Blood pressure

Reviewed last on: 7/15/2008
Alan Berger, MD, Assistant Professor, Divisions of Cardiology and Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7). Rockville, Md. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, US Department of Health and Human Services; August 2004. National Institutes of Health Publication No. 04-5230.

Kaplan NM. Systemic Hypertension: Therapy. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 41.

Wolff T, Miller T. Evidence for the reaffirmation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation on screening for high blood pressure. Ann Intern Med. 2007;147:787-791.

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