Alternative medicine (1)
- Hypnosis: Another way to manage pain, kick bad habits
Complications (5)
- Brain aneurysm
- Obesity
- Enlarged heart
- see all in Complications
Lifestyle and home remedies (9)
- Stress and high blood pressure: What's the connection?
- Exercise: A drug-free approach to lowering high blood pressure
- 10 ways to control high blood pressure without medication
- see all in Lifestyle and home remedies
Prevention (1)
- Main attraction: 10 vegetable main dishes
Risk factors (2)
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Birth control pill FAQ: Benefits, risks and choices
Symptoms (1)
- Symptom Checker
Tests and diagnosis (2)
- Blood pressure chart: What your reading means
- Microalbumin test
Treatments and drugs (10)
- Alpha blockers
- Central-acting agents
- Beta blockers
- see all in Treatments and drugs
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Central-acting agents
Central-acting agents, also called central adrenergic inhibitors, treat several conditions, including high blood pressure, drug and alcohol withdrawal, and hot flashes. Find out more about these medications.
By Mayo Clinic staffCentral-acting agents lower your heart rate and reduce your blood pressure. They work by preventing your brain from sending signals to your nervous system to speed up your heart rate and narrow your blood vessels. As a result, your heart doesn't pump as hard and your blood flows more easily through your blood vessels.
Examples of central-acting agents
Central-acting agents are also called central adrenergic inhibitors, central alpha agonists and central agonists. Several central-acting agents are available. Which one is best for you depends on your health and the condition being treated.
Examples of central-acting agents include:
- Clonidine (Catapres)
- Guanfacine (Tenex)
- Methyldopa
(1 of 2)
- Clonidine: Martindale — The Complete Drug Reference. Micromedex Healthcare Series. http://www.micromedex.com/. Accessed Nov. 18, 2008.
- Sheps SG, ed. Mayo Clinic 5 Steps to Controlling High Blood Pressure. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2008:195.
- Initial antihypertensive therapy: Drugdex Consults. Micromedex Healthcare Series. http://www.micromedex.com/. Accessed Nov. 12, 2008.
- Blood pressure-lowering drugs. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=159. Accessed Nov. 12, 2008.
