What Is Hypertension?
Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. The blood pressure is defined by two numbers—a top one and a bottom one. They are called the “systolic” and “diastolic” pressures, respectively. The systolic pressure is always higher since it is the pressure at the instant the heart pumps the blood into the arteries. The diastolic is lower and represents the pressure in the arteries between pumps. Normal blood pressure should be below 140/90.
Almost 90% of people with high blood pressure have so-called “essential hypertension.” This means that it is elevated for reasons which we have no explanation. We do know that our bodies have a “barostat” which controls blood pressure like a thermostat controls the temperature. However, in people with essential hypertension, the barostat is just turned up too high.
What Are The Symptoms Of High Blood Pressure?
In brief, there are none. The vast majority of people with hypertension have no symptoms at all. This is why high blood pressure has been termed the “silent killer.” Headaches and nosebleeds can come from a very high blood pressure but are more likely due to other causes. You cannot tell how high your blood pressure is by how you feel—actual measurement is the only way to tell how high it is.
What Are The Complication of High Blood Pressure?
Untreated high blood pressure greatly increases the likelihood of dying from a heart attack, stroke, heart failure or kidney damage. Picture your heart and arteries as a plumbing system with the heart the pump and the arteries the pipes. It stands to reason that an increase in the pressure load (as in hypertension) causes the pump (heart) to work a lot harder and as time goes on, it is more likely to fail (heart attacks, heart failure). The pounding on the pipes leads to breakdown and leakage (strokes and kidney failure). So our goal is to lower the pressure and help the system last longer, in effect preventing the complications rather than treating them.
Stress and Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is markedly affected by our emotional state and the level of stress. Any of us, when we are angry, frightened, or in pain, may have a significant rise in our blood pressure—even raising it above normal levels. But when we relax, the pressure comes down again. Chronic stress and anxiety can keep the pressure up over a long period of time and this can cause problems. The damage done by high blood pressure is, after all, related both to how high the pressure is and the length of time it remains high. If your life is chronically stressful, changes should be made to allow you to relax and bring the pressure down.
When Should High Blood Pressure Be Treated?
Since the blood pressure may change as much as 20-30 points in a few minutes, no single reading is accurate. If you are taking your own blood pressure, remember that it is best to take it at the same time of day, in the same position, and at the same place in order for an accurate comparison to be made. If various readings consistently average greater than 140/90, some kind of treatment or dietary regimen should be considered.
Can I Lower My Blood Pressure Without Taking Medicine?
Reducing stress, losing weight, restricting salt intake and maintaining a program of regular exercise all can lower your blood pressure significantly. There are many ways to deal with stress. If stress is a problem, some changes in lifestyle may be required. Training in relaxation techniques can also be helpful.
It is never easy to lose weight but, if you are overweight, shedding those excess pounds can really help to bring down the blood pressure. Regular exercise also seems to help lower the pressure. However, it is important that the exercise be on a fairly regular (at least three times a week) basis as sporadic participation in sports can often do more harm than good—especially if you are older!
Salt (sodium) restriction is important because it is salt intake that controls the amount of fluid in your body. If you drink a lot of fluids without salt, the kidneys just excrete it rapidly. But if you eat a lot of salt, you become thirsty and the fluids you drink stay with you for several days. The more fluid in your body, the higher your blood pressure goes. So, by reducing your intake of salt, you can reduce the volume of fluid in your body and lower your blood pressure.
How Important Is Sodium Restriction?
There are only two ways your blood pressure can go up. First, the arteries constrict, increasing the resistance to blood flow. The second way is for the fluid in the cardiovascular system to be increased. Sodium causes both to happen by opening the door for calcium to go from the blood into the smooth muscle cells. This, in turn, causes a constriction of the muscle cells and a contraction of the arteries, thereby increasing arterial pressure. In addition, sodium substantially increases the amount of fluid in the system by attracting additional water.
For most people, salt restriction means eliminating foods that you know to be salty (e.g. salted potato chips, pretzels, salted nuts, processed meats, pickles, sauerkraut, etc.). For years it has been known that the blood pressure of people living in cultures that use sodium chloride (table salt) tends to be higher than the blood pressure of people from cultures that do not use salt, and that the blood pressures of salt users always rises with age. However, numerous studies have shown that the sodium-to-potassium ratio is more important than high sodium intake in the absence of potassium. Our processed foods, particularly fried foods, are stripped of potassium and bolstered with high levels of sodium.
What Roles Do Potassium And Magnesium Play?
Potassium by itself acts like a diuretic by increasing the excretion of sodium and by ridding the body of both excess sodium and fluid. Oftentimes, when patients with normal blood pressure eat a diet rich in potassium and magnesium and low in salt, the rings on their fingers become looser as they begin to shed water and sodium in response to the rise in potassium.
To this sodium-potassium relationship, we must add magnesium, which tends to be depleted in the blood and cells when blood pressure is high. Hence, conditions that cause “magnesium wasting,” such as alcoholism and diabetes, are frequently associated with high blood pressure.
Numerous studies have indicated that hard water, made hard primarily because of magnesium, prevents high blood pressure in those communities that have it. Furthermore, they have demonstrated that when given intravenously or by mouth, magnesium will often markedly lower blood pressure. In addition, just as sodium opens up the door of smooth muscle cells to calcium, which causes arterial constriction and high blood pressure, magnesium blocks this calcium-channel in precisely the same way as the popular calciumchannel blockers Procardia and Cardizem. Magnesium is God’s calcium-channel blocker—and His answer to high blood pressure—as it has none of the side-effects that man’s does.
Therefore, in the treatment of high blood pressure, it is how these three minerals interact that is the key. Adequate magnesium is essential to the sodium-potassium balance because without magnesium, the body cannot store potassium. Therefore, it is as important to reduce your intake of salt as it is to increase consumption of both magnesium and potassium.
What Should I Do If I’m Already Taking Medication?
If you are on high blood pressure medication, you may like to try the “mineral approach” and gradually reduce your medication over time. Most commonly, this is done by first cutting the daily dose, then by going to an every-other day dose. At the same time, dramatically increase your intake of both potassium and magnesium by eating two oranges and one banana per day, to get 950 mg of potassium. Increase your consumption of deep green vegetables to boost your magnesium levels. Supplemental magnesium and potassium, minimum 500 mg and 99 mg each, may be taken separately, in a multi-mineral, or in a multi-vitamin. In general, the more potassium and magnesium you can consume, the more rapidly your blood pressure will fall.
