Three of the most widely prescribed drugs used to treat hypertension may do more than reduce blood pressure in people who take them. They also may help prevent a type of cell damage caused by too much oxygen in the blood, according to a new study by researchers at Ohio University.
Antihypertensive drugs are the second most frequently prescribed drug in the United States.
A healthy body reacts to free radicals by producing antioxidant enzymes, which neutralize the free radicals before they can harm cells. When the production of free radicals is elevated, as is the case with hypertensive patients, a cell's ability to release these protective enzymes is affected, Johnson said. In the majority of the animal studies, each of the drugs helped to stimulate the expression of these antioxidant enzymes, which enables the body to protect its cells from oxidative damage. But in a few cases, the drugs produce the opposite effect, inhibiting the body's production of these protective enzymes. More than 50 million Americans have hypertension, or high blood pressure, and are treated with dozens of drugs.