What effect does hydralazine have when administered with magnesium sulfate?

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Hydralazine is a vasodilator that primarily acts on blood vessels to reduce blood pressure by relaxing the smooth muscles in the arterial walls. When administered with magnesium sulfate, which is often used to manage conditions such as pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, hydralazine can cause a further decrease in blood pressure.

If magnesium sulfate is administered during this therapy, the combination can enhance the hypotensive effects of both substances. Therefore, stating that it causes hypertension is not accurate, as hydralazine works to lower blood pressure, and its combined use with magnesium sulfate could exacerbate this effect.

Instead, the correct understanding is that hydralazine does not cause hypertension; rather, it's important to monitor blood pressure closely when these medications are used together to prevent excessive lowering of blood pressure, which can be a risk in this scenario.

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