18. Hypertension Therapy Flashcards
(162 cards)
What type of hypertension always needs to be identified?
TRUE hypertension;
What are 2 types of blood pressure monitoring methods for diagnosing hypertension
- ABPM; ambulatory blood pressure monitoring
2. HBPM Home Blood Pressure Monitoring
Why is ABPM the “gold standard” and the preferred method for measuring blood pressure?
- patient’s can’t ignore bad signs
- 24 hour readings taken even during night
- gives more correlation and more accurate readings
What must the clinical BP and average ABPM daytime readings be like to diagnose STAGE 1 hypertension?
- clinical BP; 140/90mmHg or higher
- ABPM daytime average: 135/85mmHg or higher
What must the clinical BP and average ABPM daytime readings be like to diagnose STAGE 2 hypertension?
- clinical BP is 160/100mmHg or higher
- ABPM daytime average; 150/95mmHg or higher
What must the systolic and diastolic pressures be like to diagnose SEVERE hypertension?
- clinical systolic BP; 180mmHg or higher
- clinical diastolic BP; 110mmHg or higher
Why are patients commonly given treatment for hypertension at night?
to prevent dip in pressure
When is it common for patients’ BP rise exponentially? (becomes sky high)
just before death (when symptoms become worse if acutely unwell and mistreated)
What are risk factors for hypertension? (6)
- previous Mi, stroke or ischaemic heart disease
- smoking
- diabetes mellitus
- hypercholesterolaemia
- family history
- physical examination
What tests are done to assess end organ damage due to hypertension and for what end-organ damage cause are they used for? (5)
- ECG (for left ventricular hypertrophy)
- echocardiogram (for left ventricular hypertrophy)
- ACR; albumin/creatine ratio (for proteinuria)
- Kidney (renal ultrasound)
- renal function (eGFR; estimated glomerular filtration rate)
What treatable causes should hypertensive patients be screened for? (4)
- renal artery stenosis/ FMD
- Cushing’s syndrome
- Conn’s syndrome
- sleep apnoea
What 3 things should be assessed in hypertensive patients at the start?
- assess risk
- assess end organ damage
- screen for treatable causes
What is the most common cause of left ventricular hypertrophy?(thickening of ventricular wall)
high BP (hypertension)
Because it’s difficult to assess hypertension risk, what is used to calculate the risk?
assign risk calculator/ Q-risk
What needs to be established once risk assessed?
a set target of BP needs to be obtained
What is recommended to be the target pressure?
<135/80-85mmHg (target that is aimed for; below it is normal theoretically)
At what CV disease risk should hypertension treatment be started?
at risk of 20%/10 years
Why are younger women especially treated straight away for hypertension?
- if patient untreated, symptoms will worsen and damage will be done
- increase risk by 30% for pre-eclampsia in women during if pregnant
At how many weeks of gestation does pre-eclampsia usually occur?
after 20 weeks
Why is hypertension treated? (2)
- reduces cerebrovascular disease (ie stroke) by 40-50%
- reduces MI risk by 16-30%
How is hypertension GENERALLY treated? (what is the approach?)
- stepped approach (one drug introduced… then next..then next) of several drugs
- always LESS than maximum dose used
- add new medication to current therapy until target BP is achieved
What should the drug dosage be for hypertension treatment? Why?
use LOW doses of several drugs; decreases and minimises adverse events and maximises patient compliance (if max dose used straight away then max. side effects)
Can antihypertensive drugs be continuously changed during treatment of hypertension?
NO; they should not be continuously changed
New drugs are added to existing/current therapy until when?
until the target BP is achieved