Episode 14: Hypertension: Selecting the Initial Medication

Welcome to Beyond Conventional Medical Thinking, a podcast with Dr. Samuel Mann, a physician, researcher, and author. His latest book, Hidden Within Us offers a pioneering new understanding of the relationship between emotions and health, one rarely considered by physicians, patients, and research psychologists. Get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Within-... In this episode you will hear: Why I don't agree with the guidelines for selecting the initial hypertension medication and what I do instead Why it's important to measure plasma renin levels. So why don't physicians measure the plasma renin activity? It's of huge value in selecting a drug, especially in young populations Side effects of the most commonly prescribed diuretic Potassium sparing diuretics The issues with spironolactone and its alternatives Three loop diuretics that are alternatives to the usual thiazides Second category of calcium channel blockers What the guidelines tell us if your blood pressure is above 140