DCI Home: Heart & Vascular Diseases: High Blood Pressure: Treatments

What Is ... Other Names Causes Who Is At Risk Signs & Symptoms Diagnosis Prevention Treatments Living With Women Older Adults FAQs Summary Links

How is High Blood Pressure Treated? Usually, the goal is to keep your blood pressure below 140/90 (130/80 if you have diabetes or chronic kidney disease). Ask your doctor what your blood pressure goal should be. Some people can prevent or control high blood pressure by changing to healthier habits, such as: Eating healthy foods that include fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products Cutting down on salt and sodium in the diet Losing excess weight and staying at a healthy weight Staying physically active (for example, walking 30 minutes a day) Limiting alcohol intake. Sometimes blood pressure stays too high even when a person makes these kinds of healthy changes. In that case, it is necessary to add medicine to help lower blood pressure. Medicines will control your blood pressure but they cannot cure it. You will need to take high blood pressure medicine for a long time. Blood pressure medicines work in different ways to lower blood pressure. Often, two or more drugs work better than one. Some drugs lower blood pressure by removing extra fluid and salt from your body. Others affect blood pressure by slowing down the heartbeat, or by relaxing and widening blood vessels. Below are the types of medicines used to treat high blood pressure: Diuretics are sometimes called "water pills." They work by helping your kidneys flush excess water and salt from your body. This reduces the amount of fluid in your blood, and your blood pressure goes down. There are different types of diuretics. They are often used along with other high blood pressure medicines and may be combined with another medicine in one pill. Beta blockers help your heart beat slower and with less force. Your heart pumps less blood through the blood vessels, and your blood pressure goes down. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors keep your body from making a hormone called angiotensin II, which normally causes blood vessels to narrow. ACE inhibitors prevents this narrowing so your blood pressure goes down. Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (ARBS) are newer blood pressure drugs that protect your blood vessels from angiotensin II. As a result, the blood vessels relax and become wider, and your blood pressure goes down. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) keep calcium from entering the muscle cells of your heart and blood vessels. This causes blood vessels to relax, and your blood pressure goes down. Alpha blockers reduce nerve impulses that tighten blood vessels, allowing blood to pass more easily and causing blood pressure to go down. Alpha-beta blockers reduce nerve impulses to blood vessels the same way alpha blockers do, but they also slow the heartbeat, as beta blockers do. As a result, blood pressure goes down. Nervous system inhibitors relax blood vessels by controlling nerve impulses from the brain. This causes blood vessels to become wider and blood pressure to go down. Vasodilators open blood vessels by directly relaxing the muscle in the vessel walls, causing blood pressure to go down. It is important that you take your blood pressure medication the same time each day. The NHLBI Web site, Your Guide to Lowering Your High Blood Pressure, offers tips to help you remember to take your blood pressure medications. Prevention  Living With

Print all Sections of this Topic

Blood Diseases | Heart and Blood Vessel Diseases | Lung Diseases | Sleep Disorders NHLBI Privacy Statement | NHLBI Accessibility Policy NIH Home | NHLBI Home | DCI Home | About DCI | Search About NHLBI | Contact NHLBI Note to users of screen readers and other assistive technologies: please report your problems here.