A recent study has revealed that one in five adults with high blood pressure could be inadvertently worsening the issue by taking common medications.
The research advises patients to regularly review their medication, particularly over-the-counter drugs, as they may interfere with efforts to lower blood pressure.
Approximately nine percent of patients with high blood pressure are on antidepressants, seven per cent take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, and two percent use oral steroids to manage conditions like gout, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
Other medications linked to increased blood pressure include antipsychotics, certain oral contraceptives and popular decongestants, reports Surrey Live.
High blood pressure affects nearly one million people in Ireland.
A new study has unveiled that nearly one quarter (24%) of women with high blood pressure are using medication that could worsen it. While this is the case for only 14% of men.
At Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Cardiologist Dr John Vitarello said: “These are medications that we commonly take–both over-the-counter and prescribed medications – that may have the unintended side effect of raising blood pressure and could have adverse effects on our heart health. We know that high blood pressure leads to cardiovascular disease, stroke and death and even small increases in blood pressure can have meaningful impacts on cardiovascular disease.
“Based on our findings, we need to be more aware of polypharmacy (the use of multiple medications by a single patient) in older adults who also have the highest burden of high blood pressure.”
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Dr Vitarello suggests that the results point towards alternatives to simply increasing medication for high blood pressure. He proposes there might be chances to decrease blood pressure through deprescribing or swapping out for safer options.
For instance, alternative medication might be available to treat the same conditions without significantly impacting blood pressure. The findings were shared at the standout American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session.