HYPERTENSION
Medical treatment for HBP fails 5 out of 6 times. What you eat can prevent and treat HBP. Why are 95% of people with high blood pressure (HBP) treated without ever knowing the cause of their disease? Why is the success rate in controlling HBP, whose cause is known, only one out of 6 patients?
Some 73 million adults the United States are affected by hypertension (HBP). One out of six persons is hypertensive. Most persons suffering from hypertension are over the age of 35. As you age goes up, so does your blood pressure.
You may have the silent killer, high blood pressure, for many years without knowing it. Hypertension is a very common disease in developed countries. In Europe, 44 000 per 100 000 persons (that is 44% of the entire population) have HBP.
When blood exerts too much pressure on the inner walls of the blood vessels, you have hypertension (HPB). Blood pressure is the force of blood that is pushing up against the walls of the blood vessels.
If the pressure is too high, the heart has to work harder to pump. This could lead to organ damage and several illnesses such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure, aneurysm, or renal failure.
Stress and physical workloads make your blood pressure vary. Your blood pressure measurements are the result of the force of the blood produced by the heart and the size of your arteries. If your systolic pressure is above 140 mm Hg or your diastolic pressure is above 90 mm Hg on a number of consecutive readings, you have high blood pressure.
PRIMARY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
In the 95% of cases the cause of hypertension is unknown. We call this essential hypertension, or primary hypertension. Lifestyle, environment, and family history of the condition all play a role in these cases.
False blood pressure readings can result from the cuff, being too small compared to the circumference of your arm, or you are under stress, or had not rested before the measurement of arterial pressure was taken.
SECONDARY HBP
In only 5% of the cases, can the medical profession link the HBP to a medical condition, habit, or medication: we call this “secondary hypertension”.
Hypertension can be triggered by: excess alcohol, obesity, stress, air pollution, perfume, tobacco smoke, and food allergens (like coffee, chocolate, milk, sugar, salt, wheat, or nuts), smoking, obesity, diabetes, pregnancy, and hormones taken postmenopausally.
Kidney or thyroid disease can also raise your blood pressure, as can asthma medicines, corticosteroids, and cold relief products. PPA, a common decongestant found mainly in cold-cough medications, increases the risk of a stroke in hypertensive patients. (Yale University School of Medicine)
SYMPTOMS
Mild hypertension is often without symptoms. But flushing and headache can occur. Symptoms that may occur include:
Chest pain, Confusion, Excessive tiredness, Nausea and vomiting, severe headache,
Shortness of breath, Significant sweating, Vision changes, Confusion, Ear noise or buzzing, Irregular heartbeat, Nosebleed, and Tiredness.
COMPLICATIONS OF HBP
Hypertension does not in itself give dramatic symptoms, but it is dangerous because it causes a highly increased risk for heart infarction, stroke and renal failure. Hypertension will in the long run hurt the blood vessels, and if severe, can do extensive damage to the blood vessels within a few months.
The damaged blood vessels impair the blood flow, and can rupture or shut out the blood flow, causing severe tissue damage. This can result in a stroke, heart infarction or renal failure
Other complications can occur as: aortic aneurysm, arteriosclerosis, brain damage, kidney damage and failure, heart attack or congestive heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, stroke, and loss of vision.
NATURAL WAYS TO LOWER HBP
What we eat plays an important role in preventing and treating high blood pressure. Keep your weight down (People who are overweight are two to six times more likely to develop high blood pressure than people who are not).
Exercise regularly. If possible, exercise for 30 minutes on most days, and try to manage your stress. Cut out salt and limit your alcohol drinking.
Eat more fruits and vegetables to increase your potassium. Eat more fat fish with omega-three fatty acids Increase your calcium intake and use extra virgin olive oil. Eat a low-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-salt, high-fiber diet, quit smoking, and take fresh garlic or garlic tablets.
Take some natural supplements as vitamin B3, inositol, and turmeric extract. They lower the cholesterol and lipid content in your blood, by preventing oxidation of tissue components by free radicals.
SUCCESS RATE IN HBP TREATMENT
Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, found they could control of diabetes, hyperlidipemia (elevated fats in the bloodstream) and hypertension, collectively only 17 percent, or 1 in 6, patients with diabetes, hyperlidipemia and hypertension attained simultaneous control of all three.
These results show that we have a lot of work to do to translate the success we see in clinical trials into real results at the community level.
High blood pressure - as defined by the drug industry and medical doctors - is not an instant death sentence.
Rising blood pressure is a normal process of aging and does not require drug intervention – even when it reaches 140/80.
As you age, blood pressure will rises slightly –to accommodate for an increased need for oxygen and nutrients. This increase does not put you at any risk of early death.
If high blood pressure were very dangerous, then lowering it with hypertension drugs would increase lifespan. Yet, clinical trials involving hypertension medication show no increased lifespan among users when compared to non-users.
If your doctor success is only 17% in controlling hypertension, as the South Carolina study showed, the success in clinical drug trials does not translate into real results at the community level.
A treatment that fails 5 out of six times is not a good batting average with all the high power drugs available. Why are 95% of people with HBP treated without ever knowing the cause of their disease?
Sources; Ann Intern Med. 2007; 147:787-791./American Society of Hypertension (ASH)/ Medical University of South Carolina /Yale University School of Medicine
Wolff T, Miller T. Evidence for the reaffirmation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation on MEDICAL FAILURE IN HBP TREATMENT
