Lao Wang, 57 years old, has been taking antihypertensive drugs for more than 3 years after being diagnosed with high blood pressure. But some time ago, I heard from a friend that taking too many blood pressure drugs can cause cancer, which made him really frightened, and even stopped eating for a while, and then continued to take it after being persuaded by his family.
It's just that he was always worried that the medicine was poisonous, so he also stopped eating and eating during this time, until recently he felt that his eyes were blurry, so he went to the hospital for a check-up, but the result was found to be kidney failure.
I heard the doctor say that drug abuse can also lead to kidney failure, and I remembered that I had taken blood pressure medication for so long before, so I insisted that my kidney failure and blood pressure medication must be inseparable.
As a result, the doctor explained that the cause of his kidney failure was not blood pressure medication, but a key mistake. What's going on?
1. Where does the term "carcinogenic" come from?
I believe many people have heard of the term "cancer-inducing" of blood pressure drugs, so where does this statement come from?
This matter can be traced back to a paper published in the British Medical Journal in 2008, in fact, the original text means that the incidence of lung cancer is higher than that of sartan antihypertensive drugs, which have been used for more than 5 years. After the article was published, in the process of circulation, it somehow became a "pulli" antihypertensive drug with a carcinogenic risk.
In fact, the results of this study did not attract much attention in the medical community because of its practical significance. Moreover, this study compares the difference in the risk of lung cancer between the two classes of antihypertensive drugs, rather than the risk of lung cancer caused by taking "puli" drugs themselves.
In recent years, news exposure, irbesartan raw materials were recalled for excessive NDEA impurities, and quinapril was recalled for multiple batches in a row, in fact, most of the drugs in these batches were recalled because they contained nitrosamine compound impurities, which may have toxic risks.
In fact, these are impurities that are difficult to avoid, although nitrosamines have a certain risk of causing cancer, but we don't have to worry too much, drugs are strictly controlled before they are marketed, and most of the blood pressure drugs in circulation are in line with safety guarantees.
Second, these 2 low-level mistakes, many people are making!
Recently, more and more cases of hypertension have been detected with kidney failure, and people wonder why abnormal blood pressure can cause kidney failure.
Both essential hypertension and malignant hypertension can cause damage to the blood vessels in the kidneys, leading to abnormal kidney function and kidney failure. Kidney failure, in turn, can affect heart function and abnormal blood pressure, causing the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure.
Therefore, high blood pressure and kidney failure can be said to be a vicious circle process.
At the beginning of the article, the doctor pointed out that the reason why Lao Wang had kidney failure was actually a key mistake, and many elderly people would also make it:
1. Ignore regular reviews
In fact, the review process can be a good way to monitor the development of the disease, whether there are changes in the condition due to factors such as temperature, diet, work and rest, etc., which is also helpful for subsequent adjustment of medication.
2. Always do things with "prescriptions".
Some patients with high blood pressure feel that after the condition is stable, they will no longer take the medicine on time and in accordance with the amount, in fact, this practice of modifying the prescription without permission is actually very dangerous, and the antihypertensive drugs are different from conventional drugs and need to be used continuously to have a stable effect.
3. No lifestyle adjustments
Many patients are also prone to the misconception that as long as they take medicine, everything will be fine. In fact, this view is also incorrect, because antihypertensive drugs do not control blood pressure 100%, and bad habits in daily life will also have an impact on the efficacy of drugs.
3. The latest research: different sleep habits and different times of taking antihypertensive drugs
Everyone knows that taking antihypertensive drugs is the key means to control blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, but when is the best effect of taking antihypertensive drugs? Some people say that it is better to eat in the morning because blood pressure is high, but there are also people who think that it is better to control their blood pressure by eating at night, and there are different opinions on the Internet.
Indeed, the body's blood pressure also fluctuates with the circadian rhythm. The average person's blood pressure at night will be about 15% lower than during the day, and patients with high blood pressure will have a peak in the morning, so the general doctor will recommend taking medicine in the morning. However, some studies suggest that antihypertensive drugs taken before bed are more effective in controlling blood pressure and have significant benefits in reducing the risk of cardiovascular events.
The question of whether it is better to take blood pressure medication in the morning or at night has been debated in recent years, but the following findings may put an end to this situation.
Thomas M MacDonald's team from the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine of the University of Dundee, UK, published a related randomized experimental results in the journal The Lancet, researchers randomized 21,104 hypertensive patients into the morning and evening groups, during the follow-up period, the incidence of cardiovascular disease between the two groups was almost the same, that is, no matter when to take antihypertensive drugs, the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events was the same.
The graph comes from the network
But this year, the Lancet journal eClinical Medicine published a subcohort analysis based on the TIME study, which found that different times of taking the drug may benefit greatly from the patient's sleep habits.
The researchers divided the participants into two groups, those who used to wake up early and go to bed late, and observed the performance of the two groups in taking the drug in the morning and taking the drug in the evening, and found that those who used to sleep late had a 46% increased risk of cardiovascular events when they took the drug in the morning, but did not have an increased risk related to taking the drug at night.
In the habit of waking up early, the risk of cardiovascular events in the morning was significantly lower than that in the evening, so it was deduced that hypertensive patients had different optimal time to take the drug according to their sleep habits.
The researchers noted in the report that they eat in the morning when they go to bed early and wake up early, and eat at night when they go to bed late.
The graph comes from the network
Although in real life, some people may not sleep so regularly, sometimes go to bed early and get up early, sometimes they may go to bed late and get up late, in this case, it is necessary to choose the time to take the medicine according to their own blood pressure fluctuations.
Resources:
[1] "I insisted on taking blood pressure medicine for 10 years, and kidney failure was detected! Doctors point out a key mistake ....... Hubei Drug Administration.2023-07-25.
[2] "Blood Pressure Drugs Cause Carcinogenesis? It's true? Fake? Can you still take ACE inhibitor antihypertensive drugs? | Doctor's Business Card. Healthy China.2021-06-08.
[3] "Different sleep habits, different time to take antihypertensive drugs | "Night owls" should eat at night, and "larks" should eat in the morning". Health Times.2024-06-03.
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