What parts of the cardiovascular system does high blood pressure medication target and how would this drug work on a biochemical level?

Answer 1

Different classes of drugs act in different ways. ==General idea== In each of the following cases, try to picture blood and blood vessels as water and a hose pipe. Faster flowing water makes the water squirt further (high blood pressure). Making the hosepipe thinner also makes the water squirt further. So immediately you can see that reducing the amount of water or the speed at which it's flowing and making the pipe bigger reduces the water pressure ==Details== Diuretics, (e.g. bendroflumethiazide, furosemide) act on the kidneys to increase the amount of water removed from your blood. Less water in your blood = less blood = lower blood pressure. NB drinking less does not produce the same effects. ACE inhibitor and angiotensin II antagonists (most drugs ending in ...pril or ...sartan) act to block an enzyme system in the body (renin-angiotension-aldosterone cascade) to produce relaxation of blood vessels and increased salts and fluid loss from the blood. Beta-blockers (ending in ...lol) block some of the signals going to your heart telling it to beat faster. If heart rate is reduced, the amount of blood being pumped is reduced so blood pressure will fall. Calcium channel blockers ( normally ending in ...dipine (and verapamil and diltiazem)), potassium channel activators (e.g. nicorandil) and alpha blockers (e.g. doxazosin) act to relax blood vessels, increasing the space for the blood to flow in and reducing blood pressure. There are plenty of other drugs which reduce blood pressure in other ways, but these are the most common classes. ==Biochemical level== If you'd like more information about the pharmacology of these drugs just ask ;)