Hypertension is one of the most common diseases in the current health
scenario as per the report of World Health Organization. It is a chronic medical
condition in which the blood pressure remains elevated and thus leads to a plethora of
pathological conditions including renal, pulmonary and cardiovascular disorders. The
root cause of this disease lies in the changing lifestyle that includes food habits and
stress. A number of conventional drugs are available for hypertension and its comorbidities
viz. thiazide-diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and
calcium channel blockers. Use of these drugs is limited by side effects like
hypokalaemia, precipitation of diabetes, hyperuricaemia, diarrhoea, rash, abdominal
pain, chest pain, dizziness, impotence, bleeding, etc. In last few decades, researchers
have focused on drug discovery from herbal medicines. Moreover, we have a long
history of usage of herbal drugs for the clinical management of hypertension. The
pharmacological activity of these drugs is mainly attributed to phytoconstituents such
as flavonoids, phenols and alkaloids, which synergistically act against hypertensive
disease and significantly diminish the co-morbidities of this disease. In this chapter, we
discuss about the anti-hypertensive activity of plants selected among the most reported
in literature, with a focus on their possible mode of action.
Keywords: Medicinal plants, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, Herbal, Blood
pressure, Cholesterol.