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
  • Dihydropyridines
  • Diltiazem
  • Verapamil
• Angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ATII inhibitors)
• Aldosterone antagonists
  • Spironolactone
• 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).