Disease Description

Blood pressure refers to the force of blood pushing against artery walls as it is distributed throughout the body. Hypertension is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated above the normal range. It is also referred to as high blood pressure or as an abbreviation as HT, HTN or HPN.

Persistent hypertension causes damage to the blood vessels and is a risk factor for many life threatening events including strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, renal failure and arterial aneurysms. Even moderate elevation of arterial blood pressure leads to shortened life expectancy. During a hypertensive crisis, defined as extremely high blood pressure — a top number (systolic pressure) of 180 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher or a bottom number (diastolic pressure) of 120 mm Hg or higher, urgent treatment is required.

Prevalence

The World Health Organization estimated in 2008 that the overall prevalence of raised blood pressure in adults aged 25 and over was around 40%. Worldwide, raised blood pressure is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths annually.

Current Treatment

When an individual has high blood pressure, there are various treatment options. Lifestyle changes are important; a healthy diet, regular exercise, reducing sodium, and quitting smoking are all great options. There are many different medications that may also be prescribed including:

-Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors

-Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs)

-Diuretics

-Beta-blockers

-Calcium channel blockers

-Alpha-blockers

-Alpha-agonists

-Renin inhibitors

-Combination medications

Evidence for and Proposed Mechanism of Action of Cannabinoid Therapeutics It has been shown that endocannabinoids have hypotensive and cardiodepressor activity. In a study by Kunos G. et al. in 2004, investigating CB-1 receptors in hypertensive mice they found that targeting the endocannabinoid system offers novel therapeutic strategies in the treatment of hypertension. -Kunos G. et al. Endocannabinoids Acting at Cannabinoid-1 Receptors Regulate Cardiovascular Function in Hypertension. Circulation. 2004;110:1996-2002.

Category

Critical Ailments

Created

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Group Admin