Maintaining your blood pressure at a normal range is essential to keep heart problems at bay. Not only cardiac dysfunction, controlled blood pressure can reduce risks of renal dysfunction, strokes, etc. Lisinopril is a drug administered for the treatment of elevated blood pressure levels. This med belongs to a class of drugs called angiotensin converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibiting meds. Lisinopril versus amlodipine: how does lisinopril fare when compared with amlodipine? – the latter is another blood pressure reducing med.
Angiotensin converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are known to relax blood-carrying vessels and also decrease blood-volume; these effects aid in reducing pressure levels as well as reducing oxygen demand of your heart. Essentially, these drugs inhibit enzymes that convert angiotensin-I (in short, ATI) into ATII i.e., angiotensin-II. In this light, you need to know that ATII is linked to constricting of arteries; it is its narrowing capabilities that trigger an elevated blood pressure in your system.
What is lisinopril?
Lisinopril is a commonly prescribed ACE inhibiting drug. It helps prevent heart conditions like cardiac arrest/heart attack and the incidence of strokes. It is also administered to brighten the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest – this med is given after the incidence of a heart attack. The key function of this med is to relax arterial tension and widen your blood vessels; it can thus help bring pressure levels to a normal range.
What is amlodipine?
This drug belongs to a genre of meds called Calcium Channel Blockers – CCBs. Amlodipine is primarily taken to reduce blood pressure levels. The main task this drug performs is relaxing your blood vessels and keep them from narrowing. These actions enable better blood flow into your heart. One of the added applications of amlodipine is to help prevent chest pains (i.e., spells of angina). But it is not recommended to take amlodipine while you are having such pains.
Lisinopril versus amlodipine
The key difference in between these two drugs is – lisinopril is an ACE inhibitor while amlodipine is a CCB med. Lisinopril is chiefly used for treating elevated pressures as well as enhance the chances of survival post-heart attacks. On the other hand, amlodipine is taken for treating angina by decreasing blood pressure.
On the half-life period, lisinopril has a half-life of ~ 16.5 hours; amlodipine has a half-life of 35 hours. Pregnancy risk rating: amlodipine bears a category-C rating – it indicates “risks cannot be completely ruled out”. Lisinopril is category-D rated – this denotes “positive evidence of risk” to your fetus. In general, it is safe for pregnant women to talk to your doctor prior to taking either of these meds.
Lisinopril was approved in Dec 1987 while amlodipine was approved for use in July 1992. Both these drugs are available as low-cost generic equivalents.
Amlodipine vs metoprolol – what are the differences between these two meds?
As mentioned above amlodipine is a Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB). Metoprolol is a cardio-selective beta blocker. Metoprolol helps keeps pressure at a normal range. The active chemicals of metoprolol can reduce blood pressure, without triggering renal disorders or other heart-related problems. A key difference is – metoprolol has a half-life of nearly 4 hours (lesser than 35-hours needed by amlodipine). Both amlodipine and metoprolol bear risk rating of Category-C for women who are pregnant; this represents “risks cannot be entirely ruled out”. Amlodipine was approved in 1992 while metoprolol’s approval dates back to August, 1978.
Regardless of the type of genre these aforesaid three antihypertensive drugs belong to, none of these are taken through self-medication mode. It is unsafe to take any of these meds through OTC route. You are advised to take needful guidance from a caregiver, and start your dosages.
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.
Education: Master’s in Clinical Nutrition from Tufts University. Experience: 6 years of experience as a registered dietitian and freelance writer, creating content on nutritional science and weight management for various health websites.