In the past decade, a large number of blood pressure-lowering drugs have
been developed. The perfect tablet should be completely effective, simple to take
and entirely free of adverse effects. Modern drugs have not quite attained this
ideal but represent a considerable advance on the earlier preparations available in
were unpleasant to take.
the 1950’s which were often not very effective and
Different present-day preparations lower blood pressure in quite different ways.
One class of drugs (‘vasodilators’) relaxes the muscle in the smaller arteries
widening their diameter and so reducing the resistance to blood flow. Other drugs
(‘beta-blockers’) act upon the nerves which control the circulation whilst a third
group of drugs (‘diuretics’ or ‘water tablets’) cause the kidney to excrete more salt
and water. More recently developed drugs antagonise hormone which raises
blood pressure (‘converting enzyme inhibitors’). It would be impossible to list all
the available blood pressure-lowering drugs. In some cases the same preparation
is manufactured by different pharmaceutical firms under different names. In
addition each drug has a generic or proper name and a commercial name which is
used by the manufacturer. Some commercial tablets contain more than one
preparation to make the taking of tablets a simpler matter.