How High Blood Pressure Is Treated

High blood pressure treatment can involve changes to a person’s lifestyle and/or taking drugs.

Changing lifestyle can help with controlling blood pressure and doctors often recommend the following:

• Changing diet to heart-healthy foods and eating less salt

• Getting regular exercise and other physical activity

• Losing weight if a person is overweight or obese

• Limiting alcohol consumption

Medications to treat high blood pressure can include:

• Diuretics – sometimes referred to as ‘water pills’, this type of medication help kidneys eliminate sodium and water to reduce blood volume

• ACE Inhibitors – are medicines that help relax blood vessels by blocking the action of certain natural chemicals in the body that cause them to narrow

• Calcium Channel Blockers – help relax the muscles in blood vessels and thus reduce blood pressure; they can also act to slow heart rate.

• Alpha Blockers – reduce nerve impulses to blood vessels and reduce natural chemicals that narrow blood vessels.