Reasons for failure of antihypertensive treatment.
One hundred patients whose hypertension was originally well controlled were carefully screened when a routine clinic visit showed that their blood pressure was above 170/100 mm Hg. Simple misconceptions accounted for 75 failures: 38 did not know they had to continue their drugs, 14 thought they should not take antihypertensive drugs if they had not had a meal, 13 did not know which drugs controlled their blood pressure, and 10 believed it was better not to take their drugs on clinic days. Eleven patients were using racemic alpha-methyldopa, which was ineffective; 11 others said they could not afford the drugs; only three intentionally stopped their drugs because of unpleasant side effects. Patients need to be thoroughly informed about their treatment and the number of drugs kept to a minimum.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008750:Methyldopa / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic
D008750:Methyldopa