When can you consider stopping blood pressure medication?
According to Dr. Craig O. Weber, an American cardiologist, the causes of high blood pressure are divided into two groups: adjustable and non-adjustable. If high blood pressure is mainly due to lifestyle, patients have a chance to reduce or stop medication when risk factors are well controlled.
Factors that can change include eating salty foods, being less active, being overweight, smoking, drinking alcohol and prolonged stress. When patients implement synchronous changes such as healthy eating, regular exercise, weight loss and sleep improvement, blood pressure can return to a safe level.
According to the American Heart Association, normal blood pressure is 120/80 millimeters of mercury or lower. Levels from 120 - 129/80 are considered "high blood pressure", usually controlled by lifestyle changes without medication.
Dr. Christopher Lee, an internist at Cleveland Clinic (USA), emphasized: "Only when blood pressure is maintained stably for a long time, usually from six months to two years, will doctors consider the reduction or stopping test phase.
When should we not stop taking drugs and potential risks?
In many cases, blood pressure medication is a long-term mandatory treatment. Patients with immutable factors such as old age, family history, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, sleep apnea or thyroid disorders often cannot stop medication completely.
In particular, more than 90% of high blood pressure cases are primary, meaning the cause is not clearly identified. For this group, stopping medication is very easy to cause blood pressure to rise again.
More dangerously, sudden drug withdrawal can cause many serious complications such as damage to arteries, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and cerebral impairment due to blood vessels. Some drugs, especially the beta-blocking group, if stopped suddenly, also increase the risk of angina or myocardial infarction.
According to Dr. Christopher Lee, "misuse of blood pressure medication is much more dangerous than continuing to use medication.
How to stop smoking safely?
If prescribed by a doctor, blood pressure medication must be reduced in dose gradually, closely monitor blood pressure and only reduce one type at a time if you are taking many medications. After completely stopping, patients still need to be monitored for a long time to detect the risk of high blood pressure again early.
In some special situations such as pregnancy, surgery preparation or severe side effects, doctors can proactively adjust or stop medication, but there are always safe alternatives.
Experts all agree: using blood pressure medication is not a health failure. This is a measure to protect the heart and prolong life. Deciding to stop or continue medication needs to be based on medical evidence, professional monitoring and the patient's cooperative attitude, not subjective or the drug withdrawal trend.
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