TREATMENT OPTIONS

The first line of treatment is not medication. Your doctor will recommend lifestyle changes to reduce high blood pressure. These changes include losing weight if overweight, reducing alcohol intake, cutting down salt consumption, taking regular exercise and, most importantly, giving up smoking.

Some doctors advocate biofeedback training. In biofeedback, you learn how to enter a relaxed state at will. Specialized equipment feeds back information about your heart rate, muscle tension and stress levels. You receive a continuous stream of this information as you practice certain relaxation techniques. In time, you learn to control your body’s responses and help to reduce your high blood pressure.

If such measures fail, the next line of attack is drug therapy, which is a lifelong strategy. There are many antihypertensive drugs available; the common groups are:

• Thiazide diuretics.

• Beta-blockers.

• ACE inhibitors.

• Calcium antagonists.

• Alpha-blockers.

Many doctors use a thiazide or beta-blocker as first-line treatment; although ACE inhibitors work better for people with diabetes. Many antihypertensive drugs can cause side-effects, making people reluctant to continue taking their medicine. It is important to bear in mind that the benefits of treatment include significantly reducing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. This is particularly pertinent for people with diabetes, who are more susceptible to the effects of high blood pressure.

It is quite usual to have to take two or more drugs. Furthermore, you may have to try several combination until you find the one that works for you.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE DURING PREGNANCY

Pregnant women will have their blood pressure checked at regular intervals during their pregnancy as high blood pressure can indicate one of two serious conditions – pre-eclampsia and eclampsis. These conditions occur in about 5-10 per cent of pregnancies and in severe case can be life-threatening for both the mother-to-be and her developing baby. Left untreated, pre- eclampsia and eclampsia can cause seizures and result in coma. Pre- eclampsia and eclampsia are probably caused by a placental problem.