Lisinopril
Known brand names include Zestril, Prinivil, and Qbrelis.
An ACE inhibitor taken by mouth once a day. It relaxes blood vessels to lower blood pressure, and it is also used in heart failure and after a heart attack.
Known brand names include Zestril, Prinivil, and Qbrelis.
An ACE inhibitor taken by mouth once a day. It relaxes blood vessels to lower blood pressure, and it is also used in heart failure and after a heart attack.
Lisinopril blocks ACE, an enzyme the body uses to make angiotensin II, a hormone that tightens blood vessels. With less angiotensin II, blood vessels relax, so blood flows more easily and the heart pumps with less effort. Less angiotensin II also means the adrenal glands release less aldosterone, which can nudge blood potassium up a little. The same enzyme normally breaks down bradykinin, so levels of that substance can rise.
Blood pressure starts to drop about an hour after a dose and reaches its lowest point by about 6 hours, and some effect remains a day later. The body does not break it down, and it leaves unchanged in the urine, so weak kidneys clear it more slowly. In people whose blood pressure or kidneys lean on this hormone system, such as those low on fluid or salt, blocking it can cause low blood pressure or a drop in kidney function. Lower aldosterone can also let potassium climb too high, more often in people with kidney disease or diabetes or those taking potassium supplements.
Lisinopril is a pill that lowers high blood pressure, which over time can damage the brain, heart, blood vessels, and kidneys. Bringing blood pressure down lowers the chance of strokes and heart attacks. It also eases the symptoms of heart failure and helps more people survive after a heart attack.
It is used by adults and by children 6 years and older with high blood pressure, either alone or with other blood pressure medicines. For heart failure it is added to other heart medicines. After a heart attack, it is started within 24 hours in people who are stable, alongside standard treatments such as aspirin and beta-blockers. It should be stopped as soon as possible once pregnancy is found, because it can harm or kill an unborn baby.
Most people notice little, but headache, dizziness, and cough are the common complaints, and people with heart failure or a recent heart attack may feel lightheaded from low blood pressure. The label treats sudden swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat as dangerous, because it can block the airway and has caused deaths. It also warns about high potassium, a drop in kidney function, and very low blood pressure, especially in people low on fluid or salt. Less often, it has been tied to liver injury that begins with yellowing of the skin or eyes, and to rare cases of low white blood cell counts.
A clinician may order these while someone is taking it.
This is the boxed warning, the warning the FDA label prints first.
Fetal toxicity. Drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system can injure or kill a developing fetus. Stop lisinopril as soon as pregnancy is detected.
Sources: [1]