High blood pressure is a common health problem around the world. About one out of every ten adults has it.
If it’s not treated, it can lead to serious problems like heart attacks or strokes. That’s why doctors often recommend changes in lifestyle and also give medications to help lower blood pressure.
Many people take blood pressure medicines every day. These include common types like ACE-inhibitors, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers. But now, a new study from Imperial College London shows that one type of these medicines might be linked to problems in the gut.
The researchers wanted to understand if these medicines might have any unknown effects on the body. Instead of testing the drugs directly, they looked at how certain genes affect the same body systems the drugs target.
They studied the genes of about 750,000 people to find out how the body reacts naturally when those systems are changed. Then, they checked whether these changes were linked to any diseases.
Their analysis used data from the UK Biobank, which holds health information on hundreds of thousands of people. The team looked at around 900 different diseases. One interesting result stood out. They found that a certain group of calcium channel blockers, called non-dihydropyridine drugs, may raise the chance of having bowel problems.
The reason might be that these drugs affect how the muscles in the intestines work. These muscles move food through the digestive system, and if the muscles don’t work properly, it can lead to gut issues.
Even though this link was found, the scientists said people should not stop taking their blood pressure medicine. It’s too early to say for sure that the medicine causes bowel problems. More research is needed. The risks of not treating high blood pressure are much more dangerous than the possible side effects discussed in the study.
The most important thing for patients is to talk to their doctor before making any changes. Doctors can help weigh the benefits and risks of each medicine and decide what’s best.
This research helps us learn more about how drugs can affect different parts of the body. Sometimes, a medicine meant to help one issue may affect another part in ways we didn’t expect. Studies like this are important because they help doctors choose treatments that are safer and more effective in the long run.
In the future, this kind of research could help create better medicines that work well without causing problems elsewhere in the body. It also shows how important it is for doctors and patients to keep talking and learning together.
For more information about gut health, please see recent studies about the crucial link between diet, gut health, and the immune system and results showing that Low-gluten, high-fiber diets boost gut health and weight loss.
For more information about gut health, please see recent studies about Navigating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with diet and results showing that Mycoprotein in diet may reduce risk of bowel cancer and improve gut health.
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