High blood pressure is a chronic disease, which means that once you have it, it usually lasts a lifetime. The good news is that high blood pressure can be treated and managed so that you can continue to live your life the way you want.
Your doctor may recommend healthy lifestyle changes, prescribe medication, or both. It is important to carefully follow your doctor's instructions and take your medicine as prescribed in order to maintain a healthy blood pressure and to prevent serious complications, such as heart attack or stroke.*
Good health
One method of treating and controlling high blood pressure that your doctor may recommend is making healthy changes to your lifestyle. Some people are able to successfully lower their blood pressure by making the following healthy changes to their lifestyle:
- Eat a diet low in salt and fat and rich in fruits and vegetables.
- Limit alcohol intake.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Lose weight if you are overweight.
- Get regular physical activity. (Always consult your doctor before starting an exercise program.)
Prescription medication
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can go a long way toward helping control your risk of high blood pressure, but for most people this is not enough. In addition to the lifestyle changes listed above, your doctor may prescribe medication to help lower your blood pressure.
Starting prescription medication for high blood pressure may seem like a process of trial and error at first, and you may feel discouraged. It is normal for your doctor to prescribe different medicines and adjust dosages until you and your doctor as a team find one that works best for you.
Most people will require more than one medication to get to their blood pressure goal. When one medication isn't enough or is causing significant side effects, doctors will often prescribe more than one blood pressure medication at a time.
EXFORGE is a prescription medication for the treatment of high blood pressure. EXFORGE is a single pill that contains two medicines — amlodipine, the #1 prescribed calcium channel blocker (CCB), and valsartan, the #1 prescribed angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB). ARBs and CCBs work in the following ways to help lower blood pressure:
- ARBs block the actions of a substance called angiotensin II. Angiotensin II narrows blood vessels, which causes blood pressure to rise. Therefore, by blocking the actions of angiotensin II, ARBs allow your blood vessels to relax and widen, causing blood pressure to lower.
- CCBs prevent calcium from entering tiny passages called calcium channels in the membranes of muscle cells that line the blood vessels. When calcium enters the calcium channels, the muscle cells contract, narrowing the arteries and causing blood pressure to rise. CCBs block the channels, thus causing blood vessels to relax and blood pressure to go down.
The Power of EXFORGE
EXFORGE has the power you need to help lower your blood pressure in just one pill taken once a day.
- In adults 18 years of age or older, EXFORGE was proven to significantly lower high blood pressure regardless of age or gender.
EXFORGE works two ways for greater results:
- EXFORGE is a single pill you take once a day, as directed by your doctor. It is the first and only treatment combining amlodipine and valsartan, the #1 prescribed medicines of their classes.
- The two medicines in EXFORGE work together in different complementary ways to help your blood vessels relax. EXFORGE lowers blood pressure better than either medicine taken alone. Medicines that lower blood pressure lower your chances of having a stroke or heart attack.
EXFORGE is approved to treat high blood pressure, and is not approved to treat or prevent cardiovascular events, including heart attacks or strokes.
Do you know if your high blood pressure is still too high? Ask your doctor if prescription EXFORGE can help bring down your blood pressure to healthier levels.
EXFORGE is a prescription medication for the treatment of high blood pressure. It may be used when one medicine to lower your high blood pressure is not enough. It may also be used as the first medicine to lower high blood pressure if your doctor decides you are likely to need more than one medicine.
NEXT: Behind the Numbers: What do your blood pressure numbers mean?
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