I understand that for treatment of high blood pressure and heart problems, Beta Blocker, which is a calcium-?

Question

channel drug, is used.

Could anyone please let me know whether this calcium indicated is the same as the normal calcium supplement we take?

Answer 1

Calcium-channel blockers and beta-adrenergic blockers are not the same thing, though both are popular choices in the treatment of hypertension, as well as other conditions.

The slow, or calcium, channel is a cellular pump and is compared to the fast pump that you'll hear referred to as the sodium-potassium channel, usually with ATPase appended to the name. Calcium is calcium, but you need draw no conclusions from that; dietary calcium won't raise your blood pressure. It's regulated through a bunch of mechanisms, and you need your bones. Intravenous calcium can be used temporarily to block the hypotensive effects of calcium-channel blockers when they're used to treat tachyarrythmias, but that's a horse of a different color, to say the least.

Answer 2

For treatment of hypertension, there are several "classes" of drugs. Two classes include beta blockers and calcium channel blockers.

Beta blockers lower blood pressure by preventing hormones such as epinephrine (more popularly called adrenaline) from increasing the heart rate. Beta blockers therefore slow down the heart. People who have pulses below 50-60 beats per minute are therefore advised to not take their next beta blocker dose until their heart rate is a little higher. Many drugs in the beta blocker class have names that end in "lol" such as metoprolol, labetalol, atenolol. There are some beta blockers that do not follow this naming rule, though.

Calcium channel blockers lower blood pressure by preventing calcium from entering the heart muscle cells during a heart beat. The reduced amount of calcium in the muscle cells reduces the total force generated by the heart beat, which decreases the pressure the heart exerts by beating out blood. Calcium channel blockers don't have anything to do with the amount of calcium in the body; calcium channel blockers affect the movement of the body's calcium in and out of body cells. Calcium channel blockers usually have drug names that end in "pine," such as amlodipine, nifedipine, nicardipine. There are exceptions to this, however.

Taking a calcium supplement will not change the patient's blood pressure.