Patients often assume that because a medication can be obtained without a prescription, it is relatively harmless. But that is not always the case. Many common over-the-counter and prescription drugs can raise blood pressure or interfere with anti-hypertensive medications.
Many of the medications that are linked with a rise in blood pressure are quite widely used. A view of medications that are related to high blood pressure indicated such medications include contraceptive pills, various anti-depressants, pain relieving pills to control pain and bacterial antibiotics.
Unfortunately, the review, which was published in the American Journal of Medicine said, although many medications can cause this drug-induced hypertension, both patients and doctors remain dangerously uninformed. Also, in diagnosing the causes of hypertension, over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen are often overlooked.
Many over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers can cause the blood pressure to become higher. Yet, people may not realise that they were hurting themselves abusing many over-the-counter pain relief drugs because high blood pressure has no symptoms that people can feel.
Researchers, for instance, stated that people who take pain relieving medications such as Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) daily, say because of arthritis, are more likely to develop high blood pressure than those who don’t take this drug.
NSAIDs include both prescription and over-the-counter medication. Cold medicine, for example, often contains NSAIDs to relieve pain. Cough and cold medications also frequently contain decongestants. Decongestants can make blood pressure worse by making blood pressure and heart rate to rise as well as prevent blood pressure medication from working properly.
Researchers reported, for instance, that men who take pain relievers such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen may have an increased risk of high blood pressure. The 2007 study, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggested that these drugs be used with greater caution given the high prevalence of hypertension and the health implication of hypertension.
The team looked for the link between pain relievers and hypertension in 16,000 male health professionals who had no history of high blood pressure when the study began.
When the researchers checked the health records of participants for four years, they found men who took paracetamol for six or seven days a week were 34 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension than men who did not take pain relievers.
For men who took 15 or more of the pills each week, the risk of hypertension was 48 per cent higher than among non-users.
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t was suggested that these pain relievers make the body retain fluid and decrease the function of the kidneys, thus causing the blood pressure to go higher, putting greater stress on the heart and kidneys.
Mrs Modupe Adetoro, Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Oyo State Ministry of Health, who stated that raised blood pressure could be a side effect of some drugs, added that all drugs are prescribed after their curative effects were weighed alongside their side effects.
She declared: “High blood pressure is a known side effect of some medications. It is the doctor’s responsibility to weigh treatment options and present the best course for their patient in case issues of hypertension arise.”
She declared that in cases of medicines whose side effects are undesired, usually other drugs are prescribed alongside to take care of the unwanted side effects.Alternative medicines can also be given.
For instance, there are simple ways to counteract drug-induced hypertension, such as the addition of anti-hypertensive medications to a treatment plan.
What is more, experts caution people with high blood pressure to be mindful of taken unprescribed medications, considering the possibility of some further raising their blood pressure or preventing the antihypertensive working effectively.
Why are people with high blood pressure at special risk? Some of these over-the counter pain medication reduce the blood flow to the kidneys. The kidneys, which filter the blood, work more slowly, and so fluid builds up in the body. The increased fluid then drives up the blood pressure.
Meanwhile, some migraine medications work by tightening blood vessels in the head in the course of relieving migraine.
However, they also constrict blood vessels throughout the body, which invariably makes the blood pressure to rise, perhaps to dangerous levels.
In addition, illegal drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines can raise blood pressure by narrowing the arteries that supply blood to the heart. This increases the heart rate and damages the heart muscle.
Birth control pills and other hormonal birth control devices contain hormones that may increase the blood pressure by narrowing smaller blood vessels. Not all women will have increased blood pressure from using hormonal birth control, but if worried, about developing a higher blood pressure, one should consider using a different form of birth control.
Blood pressure may be less likely to increase with birth control pill or device that contains a lower dose of oestrogen.
The following tips are helpful in avoiding medication problems and be sure that medications to be bought are safe for people who have high blood pressure:
•Read medication labels before buying over-the-counter products. Make sure the medicine do not contain ingredients that could make your high blood pressure worse, such as NSAIDs or decongestants.
•Talk to your doctor before using any over-the-counter medication, herbal preparation, vitamins, or other nutritional supplements. Ask for alternatives to potentially harmful medicines.
Source:tribune
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