Active ingredient of the month for January Nebivolol – heart in gentle mode

18.01.2011 11:31

Berlin - Around one in four Germans suffers from high blood pressure (arterial hypertension). Since those affected often do not show any typical symptoms for years or even decades, many hypertensive patients know nothing about their “silent disease”. Permanently elevated blood pressure values damage vital organs (heart, blood vessels, brain, kidneys, eyes) and can trigger secondary illnesses including heart attacks and strokes

Around one in four Germans suffers from high blood pressure (arterial hypertension). Because those affected often last for years or even
Many hypertensive patients do not show any typical symptoms for decades and are unaware of their “silent disease”. This causes permanent damage
Increased blood pressure levels affect vital organs (heart, blood vessels, brain, kidneys, eyes) and can lead to secondary diseases up to and including
Cause heart attack and stroke.

Arterial hypertension can be diagnosed using blood pressure measurements. Here the pressure is in the heart
leading blood vessels (arteries). This can be characterized by two values, the systolic and the diastolic.
Because blood pressure is highest when the heart contracts (systole) and then lowest when it contracts again
relaxes (diastole). By definition, systolic values are over 140 mm Hg and diastolic values are over 90 mm Hg
high blood pressure. Values above 180 or 110 mm Hg are referred to as severe hypertension.

The treatment of high blood pressure depends on the individual case. A healthy lifestyle (lots of exercise, healthy diet, no
Being overweight and not smoking) should be taken into account in every therapy. In addition, antihypertensive drugs are often used
Medication (antihypertensives) required. The drugs here include drugs from the group of beta blockers, which also include nebivolol
the first choice. Nebivolol weakens the effect of the body's stress hormones adrenaline and norepinephrine on the heart. This
Hormones increase the heart rate when they bind to certain "docking sites" called beta receptors. Nebivolol blocks the beta receptors and
protects the heart from the influence of the two stress hormones. Harmful overload is prevented, blood pressure drops and
Life expectancy and quality of life can be significantly improved.

In addition to hypertension, nebivolol is also approved for the treatment of chronic heart muscle weakness.