Possible reason behind blood pressure medication ineffectiveness identified
In a puzzling medical mystery, many individuals who are diagnosed with high blood pressure find that their medication doesn't do much to lower it. Research is essential to cracking this issue, known as resistant hypertension, which affects about 20% of people with high blood pressure in the United States.
"High blood pressure can be a lethal silent assailant," remarks Dr. Tao Yang from The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences. "There's a significant number of people who know they have hypertension but still can't manage it, despite taking medication."
Medically-speaking, treatment for resistant hypertension is limited. According to Yang, "The only options doctors have are to add or switch medications and crank up the dosage, with the hope of finding something that works." It's been unclear why some people don't respond to medication, but recent research may be starting to shed light on this problem.
Many scientists have delved into the link between an individual's gut microbiota, the assortment of beneficial bacteria living in the digestive system, and blood pressure levels. Their investigations reveal that it's possible the gut may throw a wrench in the works of antihypertensive medications.
Yang and his UToledo colleagues examined the impact of gut bacteria on the efficacy of blood pressure medication. They contrasted the effectiveness of the antihypertensive drug quinapril in rats with normal gut bacteria against those whose gut microbiota had been depleted by high doses of antibiotics. The rats given antibiotics first showed a much better response to quinapril than those with normal gut microbiota.
When the researchers delved into the composition of the animals' gut microbiota, they found that a specific bacterial species named Coprococcus was responsible for the resistance to quinapril. Furthermore, laboratory tests confirmed that this bacterium could break down quinapril and reduce its blood pressure-lowering effects.
Yang stated, "Our findings could mark the first step in discovering new methods to combat treatment-resistant hypertension."
Camouflaged human case studies suggest that gut bacteria could have profound effects on blood pressure drug efficacy in people as well. A 2015 study tells of a woman with a long history of difficult-to-treat hypertension who responded well to antihypertensive medication during a two-week antibiotic regimen for a post-surgical infection. For six months following the antibiotics, she only needed one medication to control her blood pressure.
More human research is crucial, but Yang claims that modifying the gut microbiota through probiotics, prebiotics, and dietary modifications could be a realistic solution. He advises taking daily probiotic supplements containing 10 billion CFUs or more, avoiding excessive sugar, dairy, carbohydrates, and processed foods, and consuming healthy sources of prebiotic fiber like garlic, onions, and green peas to keep the gut microbiota healthy and diverse.
- Dr. Tao Yang, from The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, suggests that nutrition through supplements, such as probiotics, could potentially help manage resistant hypertension.
- In the medical field, the link between an individual's gut microbiota and blood pressure levels is a growing area of interest, with natural health scientists investigating its potential impact on drug efficacy.
- Science continues to shed light on the role of gut bacteria in chronic health conditions, such as chronic kidney disease and respiratory conditions, including their effects on the efficacy of various medications.
- CBD, a popular supplement for mental health, fitness, and wellness, has not been extensively researched in the context of its interactions with antihypertensive medications, but it could potentially impact drug responses.
- As our understanding of the gut microbiota grows, the science of medicine may shift towards personalized approaches, taking into account an individual's unique gut bacteria to optimize treatment for chronic diseases like hypertension.
- It is essential to conduct further research on nutrition, supplements, and gut bacteria to advance the treatment of resistant hypertension, chronic kidney disease, chronic diseases, and mental health conditions, among other medical-conditions and respiratory-conditions.
