Tutorial - Antihypertensive Drugs

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1. How do drugs that dilate blood vessels, reduce blood volume, or reduce cardiac output lead to a decrease in arterial pressure?  click here
2. How do diuretics decrease blood volume?  click here
3. What are the differences between thiazide, loop, and potassium-sparing diuretics in terms of their site of action in the kidney and their overall efficacy in lowering blood pressure?  click here
4. By what mechanisms do each of the following mechanistic classes of drugs lower arterial pressure? What specific drugs (generic names) are FDA-approved in each of these classes?
   • alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists (alpha-blockers)
   • angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors)
   • angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)
   • beta-blockers
   • centrally acting sympatholytics
   • calcium-channel blockers
   • direct acting arterial dilators
   • ganglionic blockers
   • nitrodilators
   • potassium-channel openers
5. From the above list of drugs, which ones can cause orthostatic hypotension and reflex tachycardia?

Revised 08/28/06