A fifth of hypertension patients take drugs that actually increase blood pressure

A new study has, worryingly, revealed that one in five people who have hypertension (high blood pressure) take medication that actually increases blood pressure.

This revelation is particularly pertinent considering that nearly half of US adults have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Medical advice says people's blood presasure should, ideally, be under 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

Now, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, United States, a Harvard-affiliated teaching hospital, have discovered that a significant proportion of people with hypertension are actually taking medication that may raise blood pressure.

Indeed, according to the team's research, which looked at data relating to some 27,599 US adults, nearly one in five with hypertension were on medication that could raise their blood pressure. In fact, the authors found that a total of 15% of all adults were on these medications.

While it was expected that some of the individuals would be taking prescription medications that could raise blood pressure, the researchers were surprised to find that there were so many.

Speaking to Medical News Today, letter co-author, Dr. Timothy Anderson, said: “In some cases, these medications are appropriate, as they are treating an important issue without a better alternative. However, in many cases, I think the risk of raising blood pressure is simply overlooked, particularly for patients using these medications for many years.”

The results of the study cited in this article appear in a research letter in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

*image courtesy of Image by Gerald Oswald from Pixabay