ROLE OF COMMUNITY PHARMACIST; CARE OF HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

The community pharmacist, being an important member of the healthcare team and society, can make successful efforts to counsel the sufferer and guide him about this disease. Pharmacist is now becoming more patient oriented than product oriented and have brought many changes in life of patients. Hypertension or high blood pressure is a condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is chronically elevated. With every heart beat, the heart pumps blood through the arteries to the rest of the body. Blood pressure is the force of blood that is pushing up against the walls of the blood vessels. If the pressure is too high, the heart has to work harder to pump, and this could lead to organ damage and several illnesses such as heart attack, stroke, failure, aneurysm, or renal failure. Cardiovascular diseases caused 2.3 million deaths in India in the year 1990; this is projected to double by the year 2020. Hypertension is directly responsible for 57% of all stroke deaths and 24% of all coronary heart disease deaths in India. Hypertension can best be prevented by adjusting your lifestyle so that proper diet and exercise are key components. It is important to maintain a healthy weight, reduce salt intake, reduce alcohol intake, and reduce stress. Pharmacotherapy for hypertension therefore offers a substantial potential for cost savings. Recent studies proved that the use of angiotensin receptor blockers for treatment of hypertension is cost-saving and cost-effective treatment compared with other conventional treatment. The role of community pharmacist needs to be realized not only for the healthcare system to perform better but also for the development of pharmacy profession.