- With Mayo Clinic emeritus hypertension specialist
Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D.
Sheldon Sheps, M.D.
Dr. Sheldon Sheps, emeritus professor of medicine and former chair of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension in the Department of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, has been with Mayo Clinic since 1960.
Dr. Sheps, a Winnipeg, Manitoba, native, is board certified in internal medicine and specializes in hypertension and peripheral vascular diseases. He developed a multidisciplinary approach with specially trained nurses, dietitians, technicians and educators to help form a team approach to the treatment of patients with abnormal blood pressure.
"I have always believed in involving the patient and family in their health care," Dr. Sheps says. "I have asked for their understanding of the illness and issues and for participation in decisions. The Web is a natural extension of that, and now many more people can be informed."
Dr. Sheps chaired the sixth working group, and he participated in the fourth, fifth and seventh groups that developed the then-latest guidelines for hypertension under the auspices of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). He helped write the latest American Heart Association (AHA) report on blood pressure measurement. He chaired an AHA group that produced an online accreditation for blood pressure measurement for health professionals.
Dr. Sheps has co-authored books, newsletters, CD-ROMs and other Mayo Clinic health information material. He joined Mayo Clinic's Web team in 1998. He was medical editor-in-chief of both editions of the "Mayo Clinic on High Blood Pressure" book; the last edition was published in 2003. He was also medical editor-in-chief of "Mayo Clinic 5 Steps to Controlling High Blood Pressure," published in 2008.
In addition, Dr. Sheps was section editor for each of the first three editions of "Hypertension Primer" for the American Heart Association.
Dr. Sheps was also chairman of the Science Base Subcommittee and the National High Blood Pressure Education Program, and he was a consultant to the Hypertension Initiative of the World Health Organization. In 1997, he was honored with the Individual Achievement Award on the 25th anniversary of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program of NHLBI. In 2009, he was honored as a Distinguished Mayo Alumnus.
Definition (3)
- White-coat hypertension: When blood pressure rises at the doctor's office
- Isolated systolic hypertension: A health concern?
- Blood pressure: Is it affected by cold weather?
Risk factors (2)
- Menopause and high blood pressure: What's the connection?
- Alcohol: Does it affect blood pressure?
Symptoms (1)
- Pulse pressure: An indicator of heart health?
Causes (5)
- Caffeine: How does it affect blood pressure?
- Anxiety: A cause of high blood pressure?
- Blood pressure readings: Why higher at home?
- see all in Causes
Complications (1)
- Hypertensive crisis: What are the symptoms?
Treatments and drugs (7)
- After a flood, are food and medicine safe to use?
- Polypill: Does it treat heart disease?
- Calcium supplements: Do they interfere with blood pressure drugs?
- see all in Treatments and drugs
Lifestyle and home remedies (11)
- Weightlifting: Bad for your blood pressure?
- Resperate: Can it help reduce blood pressure?
- Blood pressure medication: Still necessary if I lose weight?
- see all in Lifestyle and home remedies
Alternative medicine (2)
- L-arginine: Does it lower blood pressure?
- Do infrared saunas have any health benefits?
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Question
Blood pressure medications: Can they raise my triglycerides?
Can some blood pressure medications cause an increase in triglycerides?
Answer
from Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D.
Yes, some blood pressure medications can affect triglyceride and cholesterol levels. However, the blood pressure medications that can increase your triglycerides usually aren't prescribed unless other medications haven't worked, or if you have a specific heart condition that requires taking those medications.
High doses — 50 milligrams or more — of some diuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide, can temporarily increase your "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides. However, this spike usually returns to normal within a year of starting these medications.
Older beta blockers such as propranolol (Inderal), atenolol (Tenormin) and metoprolol (Lopressor) can slightly increase triglycerides and decrease high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol. Typically this occurs in people who have a cluster of conditions (metabolic syndrome) that includes:
- High blood pressure
- High blood sugar
- Excess weight around the abdomen
- High cholesterol
Newer beta blockers, such as carvedilol (Coreg) and nebivolol (Bystolic), are less likely to affect your cholesterol levels.
The older beta blocker drugs that can affect your cholesterol levels usually shouldn't be one of the first drugs you're given as a treatment for high blood pressure. Older beta blockers drugs are useful, however, in specific instances such as to prevent recurrent coronary artery disease, to manage heart failure and to treat certain heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias).
If you're worried about increasing triglycerides, talk to your doctor about making changes to your diet and exercise routine. Also, before making any changes in your drug therapy, talk to your doctor.
Next questionBeta blockers: How do they affect exercise?
- Kaplan NM. Antihypertensive drugs and lipids. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 12, 2010.
- Yuan G, et al. Hypertriglyceridemia: Its etiology, effects and treatment. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2007;176:1113.
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