Hypertensive drugs raise blood pressure, not lower it

Hypertensive drugs are supposed to lower blood pressure – but the most commonly-prescribed ones are making the problem worse. The drugs are raising blood pressure in a significant number of patients, a new study has discovered. The drugs – which included diuretics, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors - raised blood pressure in around 16 per cent of the 945 patients who were monitored. The patients" blood pressure was already dangerously high even before they were given the drugs. Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University say the problem is that doctors are adopting a one-drug-treats-all approach, when they should be more careful in selecting the most appropriate drug for their patient. One precaution is to first measure the levels of rennin, an enzyme, in a simple blood test, they say. (Source: American Journal of Hypertension, 2010; doi: 10.1038/ajh.2010.114).