Hypertension treatment side-effects

Triamterene is available as 50-mg and 100-mg capsules. The usual starting dose is 50 mg twice daily, which can be titrated to 100 mg twice daily. Triamterene 50 mg is available as a combination product with hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg and is commonly used for the treatment of stage 1 and It hypertension. Common side effects include hyperkalemia, sodium depletion, and metabolic acidosis. ... 

As of the mid-1990s, use of MAOIs for the treatment of depression is severely restricted because of potential side effects, the most serious of which is hypertensive crisis, which results primarily from the presence of dietary tyramine. Tyramine, a naturally occurring amine present in cheese, beer, wine, and other foods, is an indirecdy acting sympathomimetic, that is, it potently causes the release of norepinephrine from sympathetic neurons. The norepinephrine that is released interacts with adrenoceptors and, by interacting with a-adrenoceptors, causes a marked increase in blood pressure the resultant hypertension may be so severe as to cause death. 

Treatment of essential or primary hypertension emphasizes not only the lowering of the elevated blood pressure, but also individualized therapy for each patient, providing each patient with minimized unnecessary side effects. The patient s cardiovascular morbidity and mortaUty should be decreased and end organ damage reversed or reduced (184,185). 

Verapamil (Table 1), the first slow channel calcium blocker synthesized to selectively inhibit the transmembrane influx of calcium ions into cells, lowers blood pressure in hypertensive patients having good organ perfusion particularly with increased renal blood flow. Sustained-release verapamil for once a day dosing is available for the treatment of hypertension. Constipation is a prominent side effect. Headache, dizziness, and edema are frequent and verapamil can sometimes cause AV conduction disturbances and AV block. Verapamil should not be used in combination with -adrenoceptor blockers because of the synergistic negative effects on heart rate and contractile force. 

Nifedipine (Table 3) is a potent vasodilator that selectively dilates resistance vessels and has fewer effects on venous vessels. It does not cause reflex tachycardia during chronic therapy. Nifedipine is one of the first-line choices for black or elderly patients and patients having concomitant angina pectoris, diabetes, or peripheral vascular diseases. Nifedipine, sublingually, is also suitable for the treatment of hypertensive emergencies. Nifedipine does not impair sexual function or worsen blood Hpid profile. The side effects are flushing, headache, and dizziness. 

Diuretics are needed to return to normal the expanded extracellular volume that other antihypertensive agents produce, such as fluid retention and blood volume expansion, via compensatory mechanisms of the body. The loss of efficacy of antihypertensive agents can be restored if a diuretic is used concomitandy. In the treatment of hypertension, high ceiling or loop diuretics, such as furosemide, ethacrynic acid, and bumetanide, are no more efficacious than the thiazide-type of diuretics. In fact, these agents cause more side effects, such as dehydration, metaboHc alkalosis, etc, and therefore, should not be used except in situations where rapid elimination of duid volume is cleady indicated. 

Erythropoietin (Eprex ) is physiologically produced in the kidney and regulates proliferation of committed progenitors of red blood cells. It is used to substitute erythropoietin in severe anemias due to end stage renal disease or treatment of cancer with cytostatic agents. Side effects include hypertension and increased risk of thrombosis. 

In clinical trials, ATI antagonists have proven to be as effective as ACE inhibitors in hypertension, congestive heart failure, and renal failure [3]. The favorable side effect profile of ATI antagonists argues for a greater use of these diugs. At present, due to still higher costs, they are indicated in patients who do not tolerate ACE inhibitor treatment. 

MAO Is have not been evaluated systematically for treatment of PD under the current diagnostic classification and generally are reserved for patients who are refractory to other treatments.48,49 MAOIs have significant side effects that limit adherence. Additionally, patients must adhere to dietary restriction of tyramine and avoid sympathomimetic drugs to avoid hypertensive crisis. 

The pharmacokinetics of bevacizumab demonstrate a terminal half-life of 21 days, with a volume of distribution consistent with limited extravascular distribution.34 Bevacizumab has shown clinical activity in the treatment of colorectal, kidney, lung, breast, and head and neck cancer. Patients may develop hypertension requiring chronic medication during therapy. Impaired wound healing, thrombolembolic events, proteinuria, bleeding, and perforation are serious side effects. 

If one were to imagine the ideal drug-delivery system, two prerequisites would be required. First, it would be a single dose for the duration of treatment, whether it be for days or weeks, as with infection, or for the lifetime of the patient, as in hypertension or diabetes. Second, it should deliver the active entity directly to the site of action, thereby minimizing or eliminating side effects. This may necessitate delivery to specific receptors, or to localization to cells or to specific areas of the body. 

Hydralazine may cause a dose-related, reversible lupus-like syndrome, which is more common in slow acetylators. Lupus-like reactions can usually be avoided by using total daily doses of less than 200 mg. Other hydralazine side effects include dermatitis, drug fever, peripheral neuropathy, hepatitis, and vascular headaches. For these reasons, hydralazine has limited usefulness in the treatment of hypertension. However, it may be useful in patients with severe chronic kidney disease and in kidney failure. 

Patients should be closely monitored for side effects that require aggressive intervention such as irinotecan-induced diarrhea and bevacizumab-induced GI perforation. Patients should be evaluated for other treatment-specific side effects such as oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy, cetuximab and panitumumab-induced skin rash, and bevacizumab-induced hypertension and proteinuria. 

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