Your doctor may advise diet changes, exercise, weight loss, and possibly medication. Powerful drugs are available to drop blood pressure, some of which need to be taken only once a day. True, there can be unhappy side effects of the drugs used to treat hypertension including dizziness, dry mouth, cough, and depressed sexual function in men. You'll probably have to try several drug combinations before finding the one that works best for you. There is no question that the payoff for putting up with antihypertensive drugs is a slowing in loss of kidney function.
Diuretics are drugs that cause the kidneys to put out extra salt and water.
These drugs can help lower blood pressure as well as regulate the extra water kept in the body in the nephrotic syndrome. Getting blood pressure down is important in people who have microalbuminuria as well as those with definite kidney disease. In some people, once a normal blood pressure is established, kidney function remains rock stable for 5 or more years. In January, the ACE inhibitor captopril was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of kidney disease in people who have type I diabetes. Damage to the small blood vessels results in eye disease and kidney disease.