Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Antihypertensive
In medicine and pharmacology, antihypertensives are a class of drugs that are used in the treatment of arterial hypertension.
Drugs
- Diuretics
- Thiazide diuretics
- Antiadrenergics
- Beta blockers
- Alpha blocker
- ACE inhibitors
- Calcium channel blockers
- Angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ATII inhibitors)
- Aldosterone antagonists
- Vasodilators (only used in emergencies)
Choice
See also: arterial hypertension
The choice between the drugs is to a large degree determined by their side-effects. For example, asthmatics have been reported to have worsening symptoms when using beta blockers. Most drugs have other uses; sometimes the presence of other symptoms can warrant the use of one particular antihypertensive (such as beta blockers in tremor and nervousness and alpha blockers in benign prostatic hyperplasia).
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details