Diuretics are a class of drugs used to treat patients with high blood pressure. Diuretics can cause blood vessel dilation, help the kidneys excrete water and salt, and decrease overall body fluid volume, according to Merck Manuals. All of these...
High blood levels of the electrolyte potassium, a condition known as hyperkalemia, can cause serious problems with your heart. Diuretics, drugs that increase urine output in people with high blood pressure or other health problems, can cause...
Potassium sparing is a phrase that typically describes a special class of diuretics, Drugs.com explains. Diuretics are medications that help your body eliminate excess water. Usually, diuretics cause your body to excrete large amounts of...
Potassium is an electrolyte needed to perform many bodily functions, including cell growth and the beating of the heart. Healthy potassium levels can be maintained by eating adequate amounts of the mineral in the diet. According to the American...
If the results of a blood test indicate low levels of potassium in your blood -- or hypokalemia -- expect your doctor to recommend a high-potassium diet. If that intervention is not adequate enough to raise your serum potassium to a healthy level,...
The kidneys control the amounts of fluid and electrolytes in the blood. They maintain this control by filtering waste products out of the body, producing urine and controlling the amount of water absorbed into the bloodstream. In cases of acute...
Certain diuretics have the potential to lower your body's potassium levels as your body loses potassium through urination. Diuretics act to lower blood pressure by eliminating sodium and excess water from your body through urine, but excessive...
Many factors affect your blood pressure. The way your body absorbs and releases water with its electrolytes potassium and sodium represents a regulatory mechanism. Much of this activity takes place in the kidneys, a fluid-filtering system that...
Diuretics, also called water pills are drugs used to treat edema or water retention caused by such medical conditions as high blood pressure, heart failure, glaucoma, kidney failure and ascites. Ascites is the accumulation of fluids in the...
Too much potassium in the blood, a condition called hyperkalemia, can lead to heart attack. In their article on drug-induced abnormalities of potassium metabolism, published in the "Polish Archives of Internal Medicine" in 2008, Polish...
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, describes a condition that occurs when the pressure of the blood against the walls of the blood vessels increases to a level that can cause damage to the arteries and eventually the organs. The...
Diuretics are a major class of blood pressure medications, often used as a first-line treatment of hypertension. Diuretics, also known as "water pills," cause the kidneys to dump more fluid from the blood into the urine, thus lowering blood volume...
Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, is a serious condition that refers to the heart's inability to pump blood effectively. Narrowed arteries from atherosclerosis and long-standing high blood pressure can put stress on the heart...
Olmesartan, available as the brand Benicar, is a prescription drug for treating high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Benicar also is effective for treating diabetic nephropathy, or kidney disease, in people with diabetes and high...
Water pills or diuretics are used to treat a number of conditions that affect your body's ability to properly regulate fluid intake. This includes congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and body swelling known as edema. Water pills are...
Diuretics, as defined by Cedars Sinai Medical Center, are medications which reduce the amount of salt or sodium and water in the body. They are given for high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, water retention and kidney or liver disease....
Antihypertensives are a class of drugs used to treat hypertension, or high blood pressure. Sometimes hypertension has no known cause and is called "essential hypertension." "Secondary hypertension" is caused by an underlying condition such as...
Water pills are usually prescribed as part of a treatment plan for high blood pressure or edema, swelling caused by fluid in your body tissues. Medically referred to as diuretics, water pills are meant to help your body remove excess sodium and...
Higher-than-normal potassium levels occur when your kidneys are unable to remove excess potassium from your body. Certain conditions resulting in kidney failure bring on high potassium, also known as hyperkalemia. Such conditions include...
Diuretic medications reduce the amount of water and salt in your body. You can find them over-the-counter, or your physician may prescribe diuretics to treat high blood pressure, edema from fluid accumulation or heart conditions. Use of diuretics...
Potassium plays an important role in muscle contraction and relaxation, helps maintain fluid balance and is vital to the proper functioning of your heart. Your blood potassium level is normally between 3.6 to 4.8 mEq/L. The amount of potassium in...
Spironolactone, available as the brand Aldactone, is a prescription medication known as a potassium-sparing diuretic. It causes the kidneys to remove excess water and sodium from the body through urine, but prevents the potassium loss sometimes...
Diuretics, or water pills, are a class of drugs that doctors sometimes use to treat hypertension, or high blood pressure. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, diuretics are the best first defense against hypertension for...
Diuretic agents have become the standard of care for several medical conditions including leg swelling, heart failure and high blood pressure. One of the side effects of diuretic use is weight loss; however, these drugs should not be used with the...
The force that blood flow exerts on the inner walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood is called blood pressure. Hypertension occurs when this blood pressure stays elevated. If left untreated, hypertension can damage organs such as the...
While sodium is the mineral found in the highest amounts outside your cells, potassium is found in the largest amounts inside your cells. Potassium is a vital mineral to your health and is responsible for tasks such as maintaining your heartbeat...
Water pills, also known as diuretics, are a type of medication designed to reduce the amount of water and salt in the body. Three types of water pills are available: thiazide, loop-acting and potassium-sparing diuretics. Although the mechanisms by...
Diuretics, also called water pills, are medications used to treat hypertension, swelling due to fluid accumulation, glaucoma and congestive heart failure. They promote the removal of water and salt from the body through urine. Heart palpitations...
Often called water pills, diuretics treat high blood pressure, which causes strokes. These pills work by taking water out of your blood, which decreases pressure on arteries, preventing them from bursting or clogging. Many diuretic pills are...
