1. A medication that lowers blood pressure by blocking the release of norepinephrine from nerve endings; used to treat severe hypertension.
Usage: pharmaceutical/medical term; less commonly prescribed in modern practice due to availability of newer antihypertensive drugs

Examples

• Guanethidine was once a standard treatment for resistant hypertension before newer medications became available.
• The patient's blood pressure was controlled with guanethidine after other antihypertensive agents failed.
• Guanethidine works by depleting norepinephrine stores in sympathetic nerve terminals.
• Side effects of guanethidine include orthostatic hypotension and sexual dysfunction.
• Doctors now rarely prescribe guanethidine due to the development of safer and more effective blood pressure medications.