Common drugs that are used to control high blood pressure can raise the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. especially, outside the hospitals.

This study was conducted by the European Sudden Cardiac Arrest network (ESCAPE-NET) .

The tested drugs are nifedipine and amlodipine. The nifedipine doses used to study are 30 mg and 60 mg and amlodipine doses are 5 mg – 10 mg.

Over 2500 patient’s data used in this study

The study result shows that those who take nifedipine are at raised risk of sudden out-of hospital cardiac arrest. the amlodipine is not showed risky in this study.

What is cardiac arrest?

When a beating heart stops beating, that is called a cardiac arrest.

When a heart doesn’t beat, blood flow stops to all parts of the body.

Main organs such as brain,kidneys,lungs and the heart itself doesn’t receive any blood anymore, so the cells of these organs aren’t getting any oxygen to function so they start dying.

How does blood pressure (BP) controlling medicines cause cardiac arrest?

These drugs work by blocking ion channels so limiting action potential of cardiac cells that can cause cardiac arrhythmia, arrhythmia is when the heart beats abnormally, not in coordination. This arrhythmia, if fatal, can cause cardiac arrest