There is no disguising the fact and it is certainly one that should not be denied but there are considerable side effects of both having High Blood Pressure (and these can be lethal) and also considerable side effects of High Blood Pressure Medicine as well.

A lot of people confuse the two with each other and to be brutally blunt this does no one any good at all.

The purpose of this article is to concentrate by and large on the side effects of the medication taken for High Blood Pressure (HBP) and the treatment programmes embarked upon. The majority of this revolves around the side effects of the various drugs that are prescribed for the HBP.

If we break these down into the categories of the medication prescribed.

Thiazide Diuretics

By and large the main side effects of this class of medication are thirst, Muscle cramps, and potential digestive upsets such as diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting or abdominal pain. The levels of salts in the blood stream can be disturbed and the main side effects of diuretics i.e. the one thing they were designed to do is that they make you go to the toilet more often.

Occasionally Doctors might pick up via routine blood tests that your White Cell count might be lower than normal, your Blood uric acid levels might be raised (one of the potential causes of gout) and you might develop a rash.

Lastly two things. The first is that due to the ability to lower Blood Pressure fairly rapidly some patients have reported that fact they can sometimes get dizzy when they stand up. Secondly these drugs can affect a mans ability to have or sustain an erection. However if this is picked up on by your Doctor this condition is not only treatable but reversible as well.

Beta Blockers

With some Beta Blockers such as the drug Atenolol the side effects are as follows. You can develop excessive headaches, your pulse becomes slower, you develop a dry mouth and you become tired more easily with accompanying mood changes. The digestive problems and the dizziness reported above is also a potential problem with these Beta Blockers plus further side effects are excessive spasms of the blood vessels in the fingers and toes in cold weather and also an increase in the incidence of attacks of cramp in the calf muscles.

Calcium Channel Blockers

With these drugs and examples being amlodipine, the side effects are as follows. An increase in the number of Headaches. A rash and increased blood flow to the skin resulting in feelings of flushing. An increased amount of fatigue and nausea; dizziness and some incidences of fluid retention i.e. puffy ankles. Finally an overall loss of power and strength, an enlargement of the gums and a reversible inability for a man to have an erection.

Now it has to be stressed that all of the above side effects are not mandatory and that is to say that not everyone suffers from them it is purely a case of the fact that HBP Patients have been known to report these side effects and they have been medically checked out.

Elsewhere we plan to analyse the side effects of taking ACE Inhibitors and Alpha Blockers.

Blood Pressure medication can certainly provide relief for the sufferers.  But recently, I decided to inquire about the additional effects it brings with it.  This is only a partial list, but some of the common words and phrases I found are:  feeling faint, diarrhea, dry cough and joint pain. 

Those side effects while somewhat daunting didn’t even compare with these:  “depression, heart palpitations, impotence, damage to the liver and kidneys…” 

The benefits are then touted as still making the risks worth it. 

And maybe they are.  But I’m puzzled at how much benefit one gets from impotence and liver damage. 

Blood pressure drugs absolutely do have documented facts supporting their effectiveness.  I just have to wonder if that should be the end of the story or just part of it.

Leg cramping and tiring easily can be caused by a lack of potassium in the body.  The loss of potassium can be caused by an increased need to urinate.  And that, can be the result of diuretics – which are a popular hypertension treatment.

For others, particularly diabetics, diuretic drugs may force an increase of the blood sugar level. At this point additional drugs are required to add potassium to the body or to counter act the effects on the blood sugar level. 

A person who has been suffering from high blood pressure can now add blood sugar issues and heart problems to the now increasing list of health problems.

Given the array of drugs that can be prescribed, just how many other side effects might we actually be dealing with?

If we could just avoid the hypertension to begin with, we wouldn’t even have to bother worrying about the numerous side affects of the drugs designed to treat it, right?

Suddenly the thought of exercising and even eating a healthy diet doesn’t seem nearly as dreadful as is once did. 

Perhaps the television commercial did provide the exact remedy that I needed. I sat dazed in my chair for a few brief moments absorbing everything I’d just heard then I hesitantly put down my oversized bowl of popcorn, got out of my recliner, dusted off my sneakers and took a long, refreshing walk in the crisp night air while wondering just how far it actually is to the moon.

Anemia is a blood disorder that is created when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. These cells are the main transporters of oxygen to organs. If red blood cells are also deficient in hemoglobin, then your body is not getting enough iron.

Anemia is usually detected or at least confirmed by a complete blood cell (CBC) count. It is the common blood disorder. There are several kinds of anemia, produced by a variety of underlying causes. Anemia can be classified in a variety of ways, based on the morphology of RBCs. It is found in the person when the number of red blood cells in your blood is low. For this reason, doctors sometimes describe anemia as having a low blood count

Symptoms of anemia:



feeling of restless fastly and loss of energy.

fatigue — occur because organs aren’t getting enough oxygen

Unusually rapid heart beat, particularly with exercise

Shortness of breath and headache in exercise also

Difficulty in concentrating on something



Types & causes of Anemia

1) Macrocytic anemia:Macrocytic anemia can be further divided into “megaloblastic anemia” or “non-megaloblastic macrocytic anemia”. The cause of megaloblastic anemia is primarily a failure of DNA synthesis with preserved RNA synthesis, which result in restricted cell division of the progenitor cells.

2)Microcytic anemia: Microcytic anemia caused due to hemoglobin synthesis failure or insufficiency .Iron deficiency anemia is the common type of anemia so it has many causes. RBCs often appear hypochromic (paler than usual) and microcytic (smaller than usual) when viewed with a microscope

3)Normocytic anemia :Normocytic anaemia causes when the overall Hb levels are decreased, but the red blood cell size (MCV) remains normal. Causes include:



Accurate blood loss

Anemia of chronic disease

Bone marrow failure Aplastic anemia



4)Heinz body anemia: Heinz bodies are an abnormality that forms on the cells in this condition. This form of anemia may be brought on by taking certain medications; it is also triggered in cats by eating onions or acetaminophen (Tylenol). It can be triggered in dogs by ingesting onions or zinc and in horses by ingesting dry Red Maple leaves.

5) Dimorphic anemia : When two causes of anemia act simultaneously, e.g., macrocytic hypochromic due to hookworminfestation leading to deficiency of both iron and vitamin B12or folic acid or following a blood transfusion more than one abnormality of red cell indices may be seen Hemolytic anemia

There are more than 400 types of anemia found in the medical science, which are divided into 3 groups:



Anemia caused by blood loss

Anemia caused by decreased or faulty red blood cell production

Anemia caused by destruction of red blood cells



Treatments of Anemia

To over come the problem of anemia,

1)A proper diet including green vegetables is must

2)Consult with doctor or physician to diagnose the type of anemia and treatment options

3)Take proper nourishments, vitamins and nutritional supplements – Iron, B12 or folic acid

4)infections treatment , inflammations or malignancies

5)Blood transfusions provides red blood cell transfusions for bleeding and/or severe chronic anemias can save the life of a person.

6)Red cell transfusions are the old mainstay, which offers the quickest relief for anemias provided proper consultation should be taken as several risks are associated with transfusion.

A successful treatment of anemia is to identify and treating the above cause: blood loss, a nutritional deficiency, cancer, bone marrow infiltration, chronic illness, inflammation, or decreased response to erythropoietin. Laboratory test results and a physical examination, a physician can determine the cause of you.