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Diuretics (di-u-RET-iks) are
sometimes called water pills. They work by helping your kidneys
flush excess water and salt from your body. This reduces the
amount of fluid in your blood, and your blood pressure goes
down. There are different types of diuretics. They are often
used along with other high blood pressure medicines and may be
combined with another medicine in one pill.
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Beta blockers help your heart beat
slower and with less force. Your heart pumps less blood through
the blood vessels, and your blood pressure goes down.
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Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)
inhibitors keep your body from making a hormone called
angiotensin II, which normally causes blood vessels to narrow.
ACE inhibitors prevent this narrowing, so your blood pressure
goes down.
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Angiotensin II receptor blockers
(ARBs) are newer blood pressure medicines that protect your
blood vessels from angiotensin II. As a result, the blood
vessels relax and become wider, and your blood pressure goes
down.
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Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) keep
calcium from entering the muscle cells of your heart and blood
vessels. This causes blood vessels to relax, and your blood
pressure goes down.
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Alpha blockers reduce nerve impulses
that tighten blood vessels, allowing blood to pass more easily
and causing blood pressure to go down.
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Alpha-beta blockers reduce nerve
impulses to blood vessels the same way alpha blockers do, but
they also slow the heartbeat, as beta blockers do. As a result,
blood pressure goes down.
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Nervous system inhibitors relax blood
vessels by controlling nerve impulses from the brain. This
causes blood vessels to become wider and blood pressure to go
down.
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Vasodilators (VA-so-di-LA-ters) open
blood vessels by directly relaxing the muscle in the vessel
walls, causing blood pressure to go down.
