High blood pressure medications for the elderly

I would like the autumn of life for each person to be clear and not burdened with diseases. But in older people, along with experience and wrinkles, various systemic diseases inevitably add up. Chronic pathologies come on their own during the constant worries about the family, stressful situations at work, quick snacks on the go and inadequate sleep. Arterial hypertension occupies a special place among the most common diseases of middle age.

Relative to other diseases, this pathology is quite common, although only a third of the population is aware of their problem of high blood pressure. The rest of the cardiologist's potential patients turn a blind eye to the life-threatening symptoms of high blood pressure or simply do not seek help. Even a doctor, in turn, finds it easier to explain the preventive measures of a certain disease and insist on their observance. Therapy of high blood pressure is complex and sometimes difficult due to individual characteristics, heredity and allergic history.

old age mistakes

Hypertension in the elderly requires more careful examination and tactful treatment. Often, to compare pathologies, consultation of additional specialists is required: a cardiologist, a nephrologist, an endocrinologist. The features of each organ change over time, but how they change and function with age is well known to medicine. Therefore, older people should change their conservative attitude towards the world.

Naturally, no one tries to abolish and disrespect their manner of dressing, amazing music. But in the treatment of hypertension, things are different. An old grandmother's first-aid kit is probably packed to the smallest detail and contains drugs that have long been rejected by modern medicine: validol, corvalol, citramon, clonidine. Many of them have long outlived their validity or ceased to be produced.

There is no doubt that clonidine, like Adelfan, was once first aid drugs to reduce high blood pressure. But many years of research in the medical field not only created more advanced drugs for the treatment of hypertension, but also proved the harmful effects of clonidine and its high likelihood of addiction. This remedy for high blood pressure for the elderly is simply not relevant and can be harmful.

Therefore, it is so important for the adult generation to explain the inappropriateness of its use. The only exceptions are unforeseen cases of increased pressure, when there is nothing else at hand. Clonidine can be taken once with measurement procedures at short intervals. But the list of improvised means in a portable first-aid kit of elderly relatives should also be reviewed.

Medicine is also condescending to cases of using clonidine as a compensatory agent for a long time and with malignant hypertension, which cannot be affected by modern drugs.

The old generation has another misconception. In vain they believe that it is necessary to fight only with high and sharp rises in blood pressure.

But this pathology requires daily therapy and observation, so as not to leave dangerous hypertensive crises chances of occurrence.

They inevitably entail ischemic conditions of the myocardium and brain with sometimes irreversible consequences for human health.

Pressure-reducing drugs with daily use work on the principle of cumulation and potentiation of the effect. Tablets prescribed by a doctor, most often in combination, affect a number of regulatory centers located in the heart, kidney vessels. Supportive therapy of such regulatory systems brings pressure to optimal levels, so that people tend to forget about the symptoms of hypertension. The only thing that remains to be done is to bring a esteemed grandmother or grandfather to a doctor's appointment for a full examination and the appointment of competent treatment.

Treatment of AD in terms of age

The age of the patient is a key point for the doctor when drawing up a therapeutic plan. The anamnesis of a person, the scope of his activity, the harmfulness of production, the presence of bad habits and their experience are also important. But it is the number of lived years that determines the functionality of some systems in the body, their lability and ability to form a response to treatment. Many drugs simply change the activity in the enzymatic systems of the elderly body. Some of them are absorbed more slowly and show their effect, while other drugs, on the contrary, show their effect more rapidly and require a lower dosage.

So, according to studies of thiazide diuretics, their great effectiveness was established in people over 60 years of age. Younger patients were not so susceptible to it, and active urge to urinate was observed in them when prescribing a dose twice that of the elderly. It is important to take into account the fact that diuretic drugs of this type affect cholesterol metabolism and increase the content of this harmful product in the blood.

Therefore, a small dose of a thiazide drug is also important for preventing the aggravating moments of the atherosclerotic process, which is gaining momentum in all people after thirty years. The medicine is prescribed to the elderly only after an acid-base analysis of blood from a vein. Low levels of positive potassium or sodium ions require the appointment of potassium-sparing agents, since the additional intake of potassium will cause an insurmountable burden on the kidneys of older people who have lost their full functionality over time.

All medicines in the arsenal of therapists and cardiologists for high blood pressure are strictly classified and have clear indications for use.

First of all, a diuretic of one of the classes is prescribed, since the mechanism of their action is the simplest and most prolonged. They remove the water component of the blood through the kidneys, thereby reducing the volume of circulating fluid in the vascular bed. Vessels cease to experience the severity of increased pressure and eliminate their excess resistance.

• Beta blockers

Tablets of this action are the first to replace diuretics in case of their ineffectiveness. They are more likely to have side effects, and the time to onset of the pharmacological effect is reduced. With caution, these drugs are prescribed to patients with concomitant inflammatory or obstructive pulmonary pathology. The fact is that beta-receptors susceptible to these drugs are located not only in the heart and blood vessels, but also in the bronchi. Their effect on the bronchial tree is exactly the opposite of that in the vessels: the bronchi constrict while the vessels dilate.

The heart at the same time reduces the minute output and the rhythm frequency. Naturally, ischemic pain in the heart, arrhythmia and high blood pressure while taking blockers go away, but at the same time it provokes painful coughing attacks and increases obstruction with a feeling of suffocation. Pulmonary symptoms may also appear in patients without bronchial pathology. They usually present with a cough and difficult or no sputum production, which goes away after a while and gets worse when the tablets are taken in again.

The experience of medical practice shows that the result of lowering blood pressure is more effective and faster when prescribing combined therapy of a diuretic and a beta-blocker.

Such a complex requires a clear regime of application. Excess fluid through diuretics should be eliminated daily, and the heart and blood vessels should receive a dose of a blocker in a timely manner for optimal cardiovascular activity. Concomitant diseases in the form of nephropathies, CHF and diabetes mellitus in this case are not aggravated by ascending edema.

• Calcium antagonists

Drugs of this spectrum are also very effective, as combined drugs with diuretics. Another name for these drugs according to the chemical formula is "dihydropyridines", which imply a weak diuretic effect, which is practically not feasible in the body of the elderly. However, it is perfectly potentiated by hydrochlorothiazide diuretics even with reduced excretory functionality of the kidneys.

Many studies have been conducted on these drugs, which have revealed many unique and necessary medicine properties. Their maximum effect in the treatment of high blood pressure is achieved with a low level of vascular renin, they do not allow the brain and kidneys to suffer from episodes of hypoxia.

Extensive follow-up of elderly people after systemic therapy shows relative recovery of the aortic valve in those who had problems with it. Optimization of its functionality normalizes the systolic pressure indicator, which cannot but improve the quality of life of malignant hypertensive patients.

Another study dealt with isolated hypertension, which affects the elderly. Calcium blocker tablets in combination therapy, and even as a monocomponent, made it possible to obtain impressive statistics: a reduction in strokes by half and deaths from it by almost 50%. The drugs also cope with attacks of angina pectoris or other manifestations of atherosclerosis. However, combined pathology requires a break in constant and prolonged therapy with other interchangeable means.

Calcium blocking drugs were once called provocateurs of a number of malignant tumors, but another study over the course of three years completely refuted this information.

• ACE inhibitors

Medicines of another group for lowering high blood pressure speak of their mechanism of action by their name. Renin is produced by vessels with a decrease in their tone and provokes the release of angiotensinogen by the kidneys. The last substance must go through several more enzymatic steps, the last of which is the angiotensin-converting enzyme.

Its elimination blocks almost the entire complex scheme of pressure regulation by the kidneys. However, tablets do not always fully show the desired effect, since they affect only one system among the many pressure regulatory mechanisms.

When the combination of first-line agents is ineffective in relieving blood pressure, all that remains to be done is to prescribe an ACE inhibitor. The drugs have proven themselves in the best way in patients with diabetes. They do not affect carbohydrate metabolism and freely allow insulin substitutes to perform their function. However, the great advantages of this series of drugs have not been established, which does not reduce the likelihood of hypoxia of the heart and brain.

Improvised first aid kit

Older people tend to carry medication with them just in case.

In fact, the pills that should always be at hand fit into a fairly short list:

1. A more modern nitroglycerin and its outdated analogue validol perfectly relieve paroxysmal pain, localized behind the sternum as a manifestation of angina pectoris.
2. Captopril - pills to lower high blood pressure until the ambulance arrives.
3. The impact of stressful situations with subsequent insomnia is perfectly removed by tincture of valerian or drops of motherwort.

Medicine is extremely negative about drugs for insomnia among older patients. These tablets or tinctures are examples of an enhanced effect on aged organ systems. Their aggressive effect can cause unpredictable and even paradoxical reactions.

The first-aid kit at hand leaves a lot of space for drugs prescribed by the attending physician. Their systemic and steady use will not allow unforeseen situations to arise for which any more tablets or other dosage forms are needed.

Drugs of additional action to elderly people are mainly prescribed from the class of anticoagulants and statins. These drugs are designed to fight the main pathology of the elderly - atherosclerotic lesions. Aspicard tablets allow you to make the blood more fluid and not prone to thrombosis. Atorvastatin directly destroys formed plaques from cholesterol and other components.

Therapy of arterial hypertension in adulthood, designated up to 60 years, differs in standard approaches for people of retirement age. However, medicine and modern doctors have found the safest methods to eliminate this problem. Old age is not a reason not to pay attention to your condition and think that everything just hurts from the years you have lived. Obvious symptoms of hypertension are usually difficult to confuse with other diseases, and a comprehensive examination will determine the etiology of high blood pressure and the most affected organs.

Proper systemic use of the usual complex of antihypertensive drugs returns blood pressure to the optimal level, eliminates pain attacks of headache and algia behind the sternum, normalizes working capacity and physical activity. A well-designed treatment plan usually does not cause side effects on other organs and systems, so it is possible and necessary to improve your health even in old age.