Adalat,
or generic Adalat - Nifedipine - also named Procardia, is used to treat high blood pressure.
Therefore, this medicine is an essential part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce cardiovascular risk in a wide range of patients with hypertension. Procardia relaxes your blood vessels so your heart does not have to pump as hard.
Nifedipine / Procardia also increases the supply of blood and
oxygen to the heart to control chest pain (angina). If taken regularly,
it controls chest pain, but it
does not stop chest pain once it starts.
Nifedipine belongs to a class of medications called calcium channel
blockers. These medications block the transport of calcium into the
smooth muscle cells lining the coronary arteries and other arteries of
the body. Since calcium is important in muscle contraction, blocking
calcium transport relaxes artery muscles and dilates coronary arteries
and other arteries of the body. By relaxing coronary arteries, this
medicament is useful in treating and preventing chest pain (angina)
resulting from coronary artery spasm. Relaxing the muscles lining the
arteries of the rest of the body lowers the blood pressure, which
reduces the burden on the heart as it pumps blood to the body. Reducing
heart burden lessens the heart muscle's demand for oxygen, and further
helps to prevent angina in patients with coronary artery disease.
SIDE EFFECTS: Side effects of nifedipine are generally mild, and
reversible. Most side effects are expected consequences of the dilation
of the arteries. The most common side effects of this medication include
headache, dizziness, flushing, and edema (swelling) of the lower
extremities. Less common side effects include dizziness, nausea and
constipation.
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