Blood Pressure Medication

By Author: Mohan Chen
Total Articles: 431
Comment this article

This quest has essentially been driven by the complexities involved in administering high blood pressure medication to a people who have different circumstances. A brief glimpse done so far into the possibilities of creating personalized high BP medication regimen have promised tremendous benefits which might revolutionize BP treatment.

In yet another exploratory hypertension study doctors tracked more than 2100 men and women with high BP over a period of five years. These patients had an average age of 56 and were divided into two groups. A single group was meant to take anti-hypertensive medications at bedtime. The second group was meant to take high blood pressure treatment in the morning when they awoke or at the time of breakfast. Taking hypertension medications at breakfast is the general recommendation given to patients by doctors across the world.

BP monitoring of these patients was essentially ambulatory BP monitoring which is round the clock. BP monitoring was done at 20 to 30 minutes intervals for the first two day depending ...
... on the time of the day at the start of the research. Going forward measurements were done at least once a year for the next five years. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was necessary to give a person's BP both during the day and during sleeping hours at night which is an important period.

The researchers in this study have noted that there is need to reevaluate the way BP medications are administered. The study report notes that those who took at least one of their BP medications at night somewhat reaped the benefits. In fact more than 60 percent of the group had controlled blood pressure over the 24 hour period. This is in comparison to to 53 percent of those in the group which took medications in the morning or at breakfast. Taking BP pills at night resulted in only a third of cardiovascular events suffered by the group that took pills in the morning.

Doctors note that there has to be a reason why BP medications are more effective when taken at night before one goes to bed. It is noted that BP medications stop the release of certain chemicals synthesized during the sleeping period. These chemicals elevate BP to abnormal levels. Taking pills at night somewhat falls in tune with the circadian body clock thereby optimizing the medications so to speak. This also lessons unwanted side effects the reason why some patients abandon drugs mid-way to their BP health detriment.

Some patients altogether forget to take their BP meds, some abscond because they are feeling much better others simply abandon the drug regimen due to side effects. Whichever route a person chooses away from taking drug the reality of the matter is that resistant hypertension may take over. This is hypertension that fails to respond to medications.

In the case of secondary hypertension, the causes are known and are usually underlying medical disorders such as diabetes, kidney disease and others. Once these underlying conditions are addressed the elevated BP often also disappears within a relatively short period of time. When left unchecked or uncontrolled, essential hypertension will lead to hypertension end-stages such as heart failure, stroke and even blindness in some people.