What Is "Resistant" Hypertension and How Is It Treated? (1:13)
Some types of high blood pressure don't respond to standard treatment. In this WisePatient video, cardiologist Merle Myerson, MD, defines "resistant" hypertension and explains how it's treated.
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Resistant hypertension is when you are on three or more medications from different classes of medications for high blood pressure, yet you still have uncontrolled blood pressure. Resistant hypertension can be very hard to treat, so once again we review diet sometimes try to get a nutritionist involved to counsel patients as well.
There are different classes of medications, unfortunately now we have more than three so we may very well add on a different classification of medication, but once again we have to be careful about interactions and monitoring patients on these combinations. There are some advanced techniques which are now being used. One is called renal denervation, but if a patient is at a point where they're not controlled even on more medications we do have hypertension specialists that will evaluate a patient for some of these very advanced techniques.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, boosts your risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and other conditions. Our experts share smart nutrition, exercise and lifestyle tips to help prevent and treat hypertension.
