Continuing from Part 1: How high is high? This entry is all about the treatment of hypertension.
What is the goal of hypertension treatment?
The goal of treatment is to reduce blood pressure to <140/90 mmHg in otherwise healthy subject and to <130/80 in patients with diabetes or chronic kidney disease. Even though lifestyle modification is an important part in the treatment plan, most people with high blood pressure will require medication to achieve this goal.
Lifestyle modification
Lifestyle modification, however, remains as the first and most critical step in managing hypertension. Examples of changes you can try to help reduce your blood pressure are as follows:
- Eat healthy diet, including the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet which consists eating more fruits and vegetables, reduce fatty foods and eating less red meat.
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| reduce salt intake |
Reduce the amount of sodium in your diet to less than 1500 milligrams
a day (less than two-third teaspoon of salt).
- Try to lose some weight if you are overweight or obese.
- Quit smoking.
- Exercise regularly, especially aerobic exercise such as brisk walking or jogging at least 30 minutes a day
- Limit alcohol consumption to two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. Drinking red wine in a small amount helps maintain cardiovascular health due to its antioxidant properties.
Medications
If lifestyle modification fails to control the blood pressure, then starting medication is the next step. Depending on the stage of your hypertension, usually your physician will start giving a single drug or a combination of two drugs. Diuretics (a type of drug that makes you urinate a lot) are almost always the first choice regardless what your
initial condition is. Listed below are the common medications for hypertension:
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| take your medicine regularly |
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
- Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)
- Alpha blockers
- Beta blockers
- Calcium channel blockers
- Central alpha agonists
- Diuretics
- Renin inhibitors
- Vasodilators
The most important thing to be aware of when you're starting medication is to always remember to monitor your blood pressure regularly to avoid sudden drops in your blood pressure.
