Hi, a friend of mine is on a special diet that considers the elimination of salt from her meals. She constantly complains that her food tastes terrible, but that she has to follow her doctor's orders because she is on a hydrochlorothiazide treatment. I try to be sympathetic and agree with her, but the truth is that I have no idea what hydrochlorothiazide treatment means. Could you tell me for what condition is this treatment used? Is my friend seriously sick?
Hi, hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic drug. This means that hydrochlorothiazide is used to help a person to eliminate excess water and salts from the body. There are few conditions in which this drug can be useful, but high blood pressure and heart disease are the most common reasons for the use of hydrochlorothiazide treatment. You can see that these are not some minor conditions, but rather life threatening ones. That is why your friend is so determined to follow her doctor's orders. The best results of hydrochlorothiazide treatment are achieved if the person makes those diet changes your friend did. Only with the combination of drug and right diet can your friend control her high blood pressure, because hydrochlorothiazide can have serious side effects if a person doesn't follow exact orders from her doctor. Now that you are aware that your friend might be seriously sick, you can offer her more support.
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