Expert: Barbara Judge - 1/28/2009

Question
Barbara
I am male,50.
I have had an elevated diastolic blood pressure for over six months now in spite of doing everything you are supposed to to reduce it.
I have mad an appointment with my RX and am ready to go on a prescription.
Question 1. What drugs do you thinks he will prescribe,and what are the side effects.
Question 2. My research indicates that hypertension can lead to impaired vision.I wear reading bifocals but I have noticed my vision is worse than ever since the onset of the hypertension.I am thinking about a new prescription. but, will going on a drug to improve my blood pressure also improve my vision?

Answer
1.  There are many, many, many drugs your doctor has to choose from to treat your blood pressure and without knowing what drug your doctor does choose I could not begin to list the side effects.  I could not possibly guess what your doctor could prescribe because there are hundreds of drugs for him/her to choose from.

2.  Untreated hypertension can lead to impaired vision, but it is usually damage that is done over a long period of time.  I would recommend that you make an appointment to have your eyes examined and discuss the changes in your vision with your optometrist or ophthalmologist.  It would be rare that you would have visual changes due to hypertension for what is a relatively short period of time.

Thanks

Barb Judge