Prevent and control hypertension to protect life and health

October 8, 2024 is the 27th "National Hypertension Day". The theme of this year's Hypertension Day is: "Healthy Weight Ideal Blood Pressure". On this special day, we need to pay more attention to the problem of hypertension.

On the one hand, we cannot ignore the situation of hypertension caused by drugs. Some drugs can cause high blood pressure, such as adrenocortical hormones, which are widely used in anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic treatments, but may cause sodium and water retention, increase blood volume, and thus increase blood pressure.

There are also some drugs containing licorice. Glycyrrhetinic acid has a mineralocorticoid-like effect, which can cause the human body to show symptoms similar to hyperaldosteronism, causing blood pressure to rise. Contraceptive pills are also one of the common drugs that can cause high blood pressure, especially combined contraceptive pills containing estrogen, which can cause blood pressure to rise in some women. This may be related to its activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.

For hypertension caused by these drugs, careful evaluation is required when using these drugs that may cause high blood pressure. Especially for people who already have risk factors for hypertension, such as those with a family history of hypertension, obesity or diabetes, they should pay close attention to changes in blood pressure. If you find that your blood pressure has increased due to medication, you need to discuss with your doctor to see if you can adjust the dosage of the medication or change the medication to avoid excessive increases in blood pressure.

On the other hand, patients with hypertension also need to pay attention to the method when taking medicine. The frequency and time of taking medicine are particular. Medicines taken once a day, such as controlled-release tablets and sustained-release tablets, should be taken after waking up in the morning, mostly before 7:00 in the morning; twice a day should be taken after waking up in the morning, preferably before 7:00 in the morning and before 16:00 in the afternoon; 3 times a day, the first dose should be taken after waking up in the morning, do not wait until after breakfast or later, and the last dose should be taken before 19:00, do not wait until bedtime or later, to avoid low blood pressure and increase the risk of nocturnal stroke. At the same time, it should be noted that the blood pressure fluctuations of some patients are not in this pattern. If necessary, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring should be performed to find out the peak of blood pressure, and take medicine 2 hours before the highest blood pressure value appears. On the occasion of National Hypertension Day, let us take "healthy life, ideal blood pressure" as the goal, pay more attention to the various causes of hypertension and the correct method of taking medicine, and work together to prevent and control hypertension and protect health.

(Yuan Yu, chief physician of the Coronary Heart Disease Intensive Care Unit of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical College)