Final answer:
The first line of defense against high blood pressure includes making lifestyle changes, such as adopting a healthy diet, exercising, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco. If these are not enough, medications like thiazide-diuretics, calcium channel blockers, or ACE inhibitors may be prescribed.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first line of defense for managing high blood pressure, or hypertension, involves making key lifestyle changes. These preventative measures include adopting a healthy diet with reduced sodium intake, partaking in regular exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight, limiting alcohol consumption, and avoiding tobacco use. These strategies focus on preventing the elevation of blood pressure and reducing overall cardiovascular risk.
For individuals diagnosed with hypertension, these initial lifestyle modifications may be sufficient to lower blood pressure to normal ranges. However, if lifestyle changes alone do not achieve target blood pressure levels, antihypertensive medications such as thiazide-diuretics, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, and ARBs may be prescribed. Beta blockers are another class of medications that are recommended for lowering blood pressure.