[Health Science] Drugs to lower blood pressure and beware of four misunderstandings

Hypertension is one of the most common and

most common chronic diseases in our country,

But for lowering blood pressure,

especially drugs to lower blood pressure. Pressure,

There are four common misunderstandings.

Myth 1: Long-term medication damages the body

For most hypertensive patients, long-term or even life-long medication is essential to stabilize blood pressure, prevent complications, and reduce the risk of death. Hypertension itself is not terrible, and even has no obvious symptoms, but if you do not take medicine to control blood pressure for a long time, it may damage organs and cause a variety of serious complications, such as cerebral hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, coronary heart disease, kidney failure, etc. . Many patients and their families are worried that long-term medication will damage the body, especially the burden on the liver, kidneys and other organs. Most of the antihypertensive drugs currently in clinical use have been proven to not affect liver function after long-term use. If a few drugs have adverse reactions after use, they can also be intervened in time by adjusting the type or dosage of drugs under the guidance of doctors. For kidney function, long-term use of antihypertensive drugs can reduce the damage of high blood pressure to kidney function, and effectively play a protective role.

Myth 2: You can stop the drug after the blood pressure drops

Many hypertensive patients, after taking the drug for a period of time, the blood pressure stabilizes at a normal level, they mistakenly think that the high blood pressure has been cured, and stop the drug on their own. . This practice is very dangerous. Antihypertensive drugs need to be taken regularly for a long time in order to continuously exert their efficacy in the patient’s body and keep blood pressure in a balanced and stable state. If the patient stops the drug without authorization, the concentration of the drug in the body will suddenly decrease, breaking the balance, and the blood pressure will rebound. A number of studies have shown that discontinuing antihypertensive drugs without authorization or taking them irregularly causes blood pressure to rise and fall, which is more likely to cause damage to the human body.

Myth 3: Premature medication is easy to be resistant to drug resistance

From the point of view of drug action mechanism, antihypertensive drugs do not cause obvious drug resistance. The reason why patients or their families have such misunderstandings is that after taking a certain antihypertensive drug for a period of time, sometimes the blood pressure is not well controlled and the dosage needs to be increased. This phenomenon is because the damage caused by high blood pressure to blood vessels is irreversible. As the patient ages and the body ages, the condition of high blood pressure will gradually progress. The original dosage may not be able to effectively control blood pressure, so it needs to be guided by a doctor. Adjust the type or dose of medication. This condition has nothing to do with the body developing resistance. In addition, after the diagnosis of hypertension, regular medication should be taken as soon as possible under the guidance of a physician, in order to effectively prevent complications such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, renal failure, etc., delaying the medication time will only make the disease progress faster.

Myth 4: Relying solely on diet to lower blood pressure

There are many foods that are popular among folks to lower blood pressure, such as celery, onion, bitter gourd and so on. Although changes in blood pressure are related to dietary habits, studies have confirmed that no single food can lower blood pressure. Taking the apigenin contained in celery as an example, the results of an experiment with mice as the research object showed that it takes a continuous intake of large doses of apigenin for many weeks to have the effect of reducing blood pressure in mice. Through dose conversion, the human body needs to consume more than 1.5kg of celery every day for several weeks to achieve the effect of lowering blood pressure. At the same time, celery is rich in sodium, and the human body ingests the above doses, not only will not have the effect of lowering blood pressure, but may cause blood pressure to rise. Therefore, scientific control of blood pressure must not rely on one or several foods. Patients should adhere to drug treatment under the guidance of doctors, and adjust their diet and living habits.

Daily tips for lowering blood pressure

Take antihypertensive drugs regularly, measure blood pressure frequently and follow up regularly;

Add an extra serving of vegetables and fruits to each meal Eat whole grains and nuts several times, and drink an extra glass of low-fat milk every day;

At least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise a day, such as walking, jogging, cycling, etc., and strength training 3 times a week ;

Quit smoking, limit alcohol consumption, and eat less processed food;

Pay attention to rest, ensure adequate sleep, and keep warm.

Source: China Medical News