High Blood Pressure Treatment

ACE inhibitors - These help the body produce less of a chemical called angiotensin, “opening up” blood vessels which, in turn, reduces blood pressure.

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) - These drugs block the effect of angiotensin so that it fails to constrict blood vessels. This causes a reduction in blood pressure.

Most people with high blood pressure won’t have any visible symptoms, which can make the condition more dangerous.

You should get your blood pressure tested if you have one or more of the following risk factors:

• Obesity - having a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 25 increases your risk of high blood pressure. If you are overweight, weight loss can significantly reduce your blood pressure.
• Diabetes - 50% of diabetics have high blood pressure. It is important that this is detected and carefully managed.
• Stress - if you feel like you’re stressed constantly, and your “fight, fright and flight” instincts come into play very often, you are also more likely to have high blood pressure.
• Too much salt in your diet - blood pressure is regulated by your kidneys. If the salt/water balance in the kidneys is disturbed over time, the small blood vessels in them may become damaged, causing kidney disease.
• Excess alcohol intake - drinking more than the recommended levels of alcohol can raise your blood pressure. The recommended limits are no more than 17 units per week for men, and 11 for women.
• Being aged >35 - high blood pressure is more common over the age of 35.
• Inactivity - like other muscles in your body, your heart needs to be exercised regularly so that it remains strong. The current recommendation is for 30 minutes of aerobic activity per day.
• Being of African descent - high blood pressure is more common in this group. This is likely due to a genetic trait.

If you test your blood pressure yourself and you think you have high blood pressure, you should go to a doctor to get it tested again. A doctor can then also make a treatment recommendation.

To get blood pressure treatment, you should first visit your GP. They’ll determine if you have hypertension, and narrow down the causes of it. Once your doctor finds out what is causing your hypertension, they can recommend appropriate treatment for your case.

Once you get a prescription for a type of treatment, you can get your repeat prescriptions from Superdrug Online Doctor.

If you have high blood pressure, you should start by taking the medication that has been prescribed by your doctor. These will help avoid the serious complications that hypertension can cause if not treated.

There are lifestyle changes that you can make a positive impact in the long term. In some cases, you might even be able to reduce your dosage or stop taking blood pressure medication completely, at some point. Some lifestyle changes that can help to reduce blood pressure include:

• Quit smoking - one of the effects of tobacco is a short-term increase in blood pressure and heart rate. On top of this, the chemicals in cigarettes can damage your arteries and cause them to narrow, increasing your blood pressure.
• Cut back on alcohol - make sure your alcohol consumption is within recommended limits (17 units for men and 11 for women per week)
• Weight loss - ensure your BMI is within normal limits (21 - 25)
• Have a healthy diet - increase the intake of fruit and vegetables, reduce the intake of dietary fat, increase the fibre content of your diet.
• Reduce your salt intake
• Avoid stress - practice relaxation therapies
• Exercise regularly - at least 30 minutes every day of fairly vigorous exercise.

You might come across a few herbal supplements that state that they can substitute high blood pressure medication. This is not true, as many of them are not safe. If you’re not feeling well using your current medication, talk to your doctor, they will be able to prescribe something different.