ATI Pharm Antihypertensives Exam

A patient is diagnosed with borderline hypertension and states a desire to make lifestyle changes to avoid needing to take medication. The nurse will recommend which changes? - Weight reduction and decreased sodium intake Weight loss decreases the stress on the heart and the afterload. Decreasing salt intake decreases the amount of retained fluid. A patient has a blood pressure of 135/85 mm Hg on three separate occasions. The nurse understands that this patient should be treated with - lifestyle changes. Prehypertension is defined as a systolic pressure of 120 to 139 and a diastolic pressure between 80 and 89. Drug therapy is recommended if the blood pressure is greater than 20/10 over the goal, which would be140/90. Prehypertension is generally treated first with lifestyle changes. A patient has a blood pressure of 155/95 mm Hg. The nurse understands that this patient's risk of cardiovascular disease is _____ greater than normal. - four times Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk doubles with each increase of 20/10 mm Hg above normal, starting at 115/75 mm Hg. This patient's blood pressure is 40/20 above normal, which increases the risk four times. The nurse is caring for an African-American patient who has been taking a beta blocker to treat hypertension for several weeks with only slight improvement in blood pressure. The nurse will contact the provider to discuss - adding a diuretic medication. African Americans do not respond well to beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, but do tend to respond to diuretics and calcium channel blockers. The nurse understands that a medication such as carvedilol (Coreg) may not be effective in an African-American patient because of its effects on - renin release. African Americans are more likely to be susceptible to low-renin hypertension. Beta blockers reduce heart rate, contractility, and renin release, and there is a greater hypotensive response in patients with higher renin levels. Changes in heart rate, contractility, and vascular resistance explain why there is some response in this group. The nurse is preparing to care for a Native-American patient who has hypertension. The nurse understands that which antihypertensive medication would be most effective in this patient? - Captopril (Capoten) Captopril is an angiotensin II inhibitor. Native-American patients do not respond well to beta blockers.