Do you know that prescription drugs are the reason behind high blood pressure? Here is what statistics reports received from the press briefing of the American College of Cardiology by John Vitarello, MD, have to say about various prescription drugs consumption:
- 9% of users of antidepressants have got high blood pressure due to their medication.
- 7% of NSAID users are experiencing high blood pressure.
- 2% of steroids suffer high BP due to their medication.
- 1.7% of estrogen consumers suffer from high BP.
The survey result was an output of Vitarello and his colleagues studying more than 27000 Americans under the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The team has further concluded that continuing with these prescription drugs can prevent at least 560,000 to 2.2 million American adults from maintaining a healthy pressure level.
Vitarello also suggested that many other OTC agents can also be the reason behind uncontrollable blood pressure in many adults.
How to Combat against High BP
It is said that 1 out of 5 Americans suffer from high blood pressure due to prescription drugs.
Eugene Yang, MD, a professional cardiologist and co-director of the Cardiovascular Wellness and Prevention Program, recommends that it is important to consult with one’s physician and decide on the best alternative in case of High BP.
He further suggested that there may not be effective alternatives to antidepressants and NSAIDs as the side effects of these medicines are not studied well in comparison to other drugs. Thus, painkillers like acetaminophen usage should be encouraged.
You can find the common methods to control high blood pressure in this blog. Researchers suggest that it is necessary to understand the side effects of regularly used drugs to prevent “prescribing cascades” that result in intensive treatment to manage the increased blood pressure caused by over-consumption of such prescription drugs.
Therefore, get in touch with your doctor immediately and know whether your high BP is caused due to the drugs prescribed.
