High level of blood pressure needs to be treated with top priority. If left uncontrolled, hypertension can cause strokes, heart failure and never-related damages. Timely treatment can also help avoid kidney problems, eye conditions and cardiac dysfunction. Thankfully, drugs are widely available to reduce blood pressure. Labetalol is one among such meds. This med has both alpha-blocking as well as beta-blocking characteristics. Can you take grapefruit and / or its juices while you are taking antihypertensive meds like labetalol? It is important to have needful details prior to start using it.
Hypertension or elevated blood pressure does not occur through any typical signs upon onset. Owing to this, it is known as a silent killer. It has turned into a leading cause for death among middle-aged adults. Blood pressure level is noted as diastolic and systolic points. Diastolic denotes the least pressure point and systolic refers highest pressure point in a cardiac cycle.
Hypertension may show up as 2 categories namely, a- essential and b- secondary. Nearly 94% of hypertension is categorised as primary. If you are overweight (obese), regular smoker/drinker and if you add excessive salts to foods, the risk levels are fairly high. On the other hand, secondary hypertension is caused by myriad factors – say, intake of birth-control tablets, renal dysfunction, narrowed blood vessels – especially of your renal circulation system, etc.
What is labetalol?
Labetalol is taken for controlling high level of blood pressure. Your doctor may administer it as an injection or as an orally-consumed pill. The form administered to you is influenced by the severity of your medical condition, age, weight and presence of any renal/hepatic ailment, if any. Labetalol was launched way back in the later part of the 1970s. Since then, its annual prescriptions have reached 1.95 million; it has now ranked as part of top-220 widely-prescribed meds in US.
Labetalol is known to have alpha-blocking and beta-adrenergic potentials. Thought its alpha-blocking potential is not so pronounced as phentolamine; its beta-blocking ability is not as high as found in propranolol. But its active ingredients are known to aid in easing stress in your arteries. As a result, you may see a stabilised and regulated heartbeat. One of the unique aspects of labetalol is it streamlines the rate of heartbeat while compromising on your cardiac output.
Can I take labetalol with grapefruit?
Beyond doubt, grapefruit and its juice are endowed with health benefits your body needs. For instance, grapefruit contains C-vitamin and nutrients like potassium. This fruit (and its juice) is known to interact adversely with a few medications. Grapefruit may make too much of the active ingredients of labetalol to enter your bloodstream. This is mainly because grapefruit as well as its juices may block the action of an enzyme called CYP3A4 – which your small intestine secretes to boost metabolism of drugs like labetalol.
You also need to know that the level of CYP3A4 enzyme in your intestinal system may vary from another individual. In other words, no two persons are known to make this enzyme at the same amount. This is a reason the extent to which grapefruit and its juice affects efficacy of drugs varies from one user to another.
In some cases, grapefruit and its juices may also work on proteins in your system – these proteins are known as medication-transporters. As the name suggests, they help move the key chemicals and enable absorption. Due to this effect – in select instances – grapefruit and its juice may make less of a medication to be made available to your system.
Lastly, a measurement of 80/120 millimeters mercury (mmHg) is referred to as normal blood pressure. If you are living with pressure levels above 90/140 mmHg, it is essential to monitor pressure periodically. Also, if you have autoimmune disorders like diabetes mellitus or any cardiac conditions, your caregiving team must know of such ailments before starting to administer antihypertensive drugs like labetalol.
Disclaimer
Information provided here are only of supplementary nature. Information shared here does not substitute a qualified doctor’s advice. This website is not suggesting intake of this drug as safe or appropriate. Hence it is advised to talk to your doctor before consuming this med or any other drug.