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Educate yourself about alternative medical
treatments available for specific diseases and conditions.
This site is presented to help you research alternative
medical treatments, natural and herbal remedies and different
ways of thinking about how to solve specific medical problems.
Please read our disclaimer.
Alternative Treatments for High Blood Pressure
Alternative treatments for
high blood pressure have been used by people in other
cultures for many years. Some treatments are very
effective for some people. Others may only work because
the patient believes they will work, much like the way
placebos sometimes work in medical experiments. However,
we believe that the more you know about the options, the more
you will be able to make intelligent, informed decisions about
the medical treatment, which may be right for you and your
particular medical conditions.
Please read our disclaimer.
About High Blood Pressure and Hypertension
Hypertension, or having high blood pressure, is a
common condition, occurring more predominantly in aging
people. Blood pressure is the amount of force that blood
exerts on the vessels that hold it within our body, such as
veins, arteries and capillaries. The human body pumps blood
from the heart to all periphery regions of the body, all the
way to our fingers and toes. If you can imagine our heart
beats and the interval of time between beats, you could
imagine that the blood pressure varies when the heart pumps
and when it is resting. This is indeed the case, and for
this reason there exist two different measures of blood
pressure. Systolic blood pressure measures blood pressure at
its highest point, the force exerted on the large arteries
at the beginning of the cardiac cycle. Diastolic blood
pressure measures blood pressure when the heart is resting
for that brief period before the next pump. Therefore, blood
pressure is reported with two values, often presented with
the systolic pressure ‘over’ the diastolic pressure.
A blood
pressure of a healthy and resting human is considered to
average around 120/80 mmHg (mmHg being a measure of
millimeters of mercury, persisting from times when mercury
was actually used). A systolic blood pressure with more than
140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or more is
considered high and cause for concern. These numbers are not
set in stone and numbers slightly below indicate a risk for
quickly developing high blood pressure. Hypertension mostly
does not present symptoms in itself, but is a concern
because it increases the risk of undergoing a serious event
such as strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and aneurysms.
Due to its relatively asymptomatic nature, high blood
pressure is often noticed through routine checkups. Hundreds
of thousands people struggle to lower their blood pressure,
and there exist a variety of medications designed to do so.
Thankfully, there also exist a large number of effective,
lifestyle modifications that also work to lower and reduce
high blood pressure to diminish the risk of a serious
incident.
- If overweight, shedding excess pounds is a vital step in
treating hypertension. In controlled studies it was shown
that even moderate weight loss can lower blood pressure by
from 4 – 10 mmHg.
- Regardless of your weight, exercise is important. Aerobic
exercise in itself strengthens the heart. A strong heart
means less effort to pump blood and consequently, less force
and pressure translates to a lower blood pressure. In fact,
consistent aerobic exercise can lower blood pressure by up
to 10 mmHg. Consistency is the key however; as blood
pressure can shoot back up if exercise routines are stopped
and discontinued. Further, it can take one to three months
for exercise to affect blood pressure. When starting an
exercise regimen, you should start slowly and you may want
to consult your physician concerning increased levels of
activity.
- Eliminate salt from your diet. The connection between salt
and high blood pressure is still under debate in many
scientific circles, but one thing is clear: eliminating salt
is often effective in reducing blood pressure.
- Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol. Alcohol has an
interesting effect on blood pressure. While high alcohol
consumption is correlated with high blood pressure, a small
amount of alcohol is shown to slightly lower blood pressure.
Therefore, avoid drinking too much. Two drinks for a man or
one for a woman per day is the advisable limit.
- Increase your daily intake of potassium. Recent studies
have shown potassium is highly effective in reducing blood
pressure. It helps to counteract the effects of sodium and
can benefit your liver. Natural sources of potassium include
bananas, apricots, raisins, chicken, fish, turkey, beans,
tofu, carrots and potatoes to name a few. When cooking
vegetables, it is often advisable to avoid boiling them, as
water leaches the potassium away from the vegetables.
- For additional dietary changes, consider taking the advice
of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The
NIH has developed a Dietary Approach to Stop Hypotension or
the DASH diet. Many studies have proven the efficacy of such
dietary advice and on average, persons with hypertension
have lowered their systolic and diastolic blood pressure by
11 and 6 mmHg respectively. You can find the full dietary
guide here and recipes available from the Mayo Clinic here.
- Don’t start smoking or if you
do smoke stop smoking. Avoid second-hand smoke as
well. Smoking in itself only temporarily raises your blood
pressure due to nicotine intake. While this is best to
avoid, most importantly smoking injures blood vessels and
quickens the hardening of arteries. These exacerbate the
risks of high blood pressure and as such, smoking is very
risky for those with high blood pressure. Thankfully, the
risks associated with smoking begin to decline within one
year of quitting the habit.
- Yoga, meditation and other relaxation techniques and
therapy have been shown to exert a positive influence when
trying to reduce blood pressure.
- Biofeedback, a process where an individual can learn to
control autonomous bodily functions, such as blood pressure,
can be helpful in consistently lowering blood pressure.
Have questions about Alternative
Treatments?
We recommend that you review the information about physical
therapy on this
website, look at the alternative medical treatments on the
appropriate websites, do your own independent research, talk
with your doctor or other medical professional and learn as
much as you can before making the decision that is right for
you. We are not qualified to answer medical, behavioral
or health related questions, so please do not ask.
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