Why Do We Need to Control Our Blood Pressure?

Patients often ask: “My doctor prescribed me blood pressure medication. Do I really need to take it?” Others worry that once they start taking blood pressure medication, they will never be able to stop and will have to take it for the rest of their lives.

To answer these questions, let's understand what can cause high blood pressure and why controlling it is important.

External Factors

Blood pressure can fluctuate quite easily in response to outside factors. When the body is experiencing pain, such as joint pain or nerve pain, when we are under stress at work or in our personal lives, when we feel anxious or emotionally unsettled, when we are overly tired, or when our diet contains too much salt, these situations can cause blood vessels to constrict and blood pressure to rise.

If high blood pressure is caused mainly by these factors, then the best approach is to address the underlying cause. For example, taking appropriate pain medication to relieve pain, learning to manage anxiety and stress, getting adequate rest, or improving dietary habits may help bring blood pressure down and allow it to return to a more stable level.

Factors Within the Body

If the above external factors have largely been ruled out—for example, there is little stress in life, the diet is relatively low in salt, and there is no significant chronic pain—but blood pressure remains consistently high, then the cause may be related to changes in the body's normal functions as we age.

For example, blood vessels may gradually lose some of their elasticity, or the body's hormonal and nervous systems may cause the blood vessels to remain more constricted than they should.

When blood vessels remain under increased pressure over a prolong period of time, their inner walls can become rough and damaged. This makes it easier to attract fatty deposits, platelets and other protein molecules to accumulate on the inner wall of the blood vessels, causing narrowing and eventually blocking of the blood vessels.

Damage to smaller blood vessels may occur without obvious symptoms in the beginning. However, when blood vessels supplying the heart become significantly narrowed or blocked, it can lead to heart disease or a heart attack. When blood flow to the brain is interrupted, it can result in a stroke.

Does Taking Blood Pressure Medication Make You Dependent on It?

Many of my patients have the misconception that once they start taking blood pressure medication, their body will become dependent on it or “addicted” to it, making it impossible to stop.

This is not the case. There is no depenency in taking blood pressure medications.

It is understandable for patients to be concerned about possible side effects from medication. Like all medicines, blood pressure medications can have side effects, although many people tolerate them well and there are many different treatment options available.

However, if medication is needed and a person avoids taking it simply because of fear or misunderstanding, it is important to also consider the potential consequences of leaving high blood pressure untreated. Over time, uncontrolled high blood pressure can significantly increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, and other serious health problems.

Therefore, if high blood pressure persists despite addressing lifestyle and other contributing factors, we should be thankful that effective medications are available to help control blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

The same general principle also applies to managing other important cardiovascular risk factors, such as diabetes and high cholesterol.