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Calcium channel blockers – By Dr.Harold Gunatillake         Calcium channel blockers By Dr.Harold Gunatillake FRCS, FIACS, FICS, AM (Sing), MBBS. – Health writer   Do you know what calcium channel blockers are? Most of you may be on a calcium channel blocker, prescribed by your family physician, without your knowledge, for High Blood Pressure (essential hypertension). They are also called calcium antagonists, given for the treatment of a variety of conditions, such as high blood pressure, migraine and Raynaud’s disease (peripheral arterial spasm). Calcium is required by the heart muscles and other blood vessels for efficient contraction movement. So blocking such a mechanism or inhibiting transport of calcium into cells will lower the blood pressure and widen blood vessels by affecting the muscle cells in the arterial walls, especially those of the coronary arteries. These calcium antagonists also tend to slow the heart rate which is also ...