Q: High blood pressure is not a disease, but a symptom. Why is lowering it became the universal focus rather than curing the cause?
A: Hypertension meets the definition of a disease (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/disease). Most people suffer from primary or essential high blood pressure. The exact cause is not known but research continues. In the meantime, treating high blood pressure makes sense because treatment can prevent a heart attack or stroke. The less common form of high blood pressure, secondary hypertension, sometimes can be cured because an exact cause is found.
(29 votes, average: 3.52 out of 5)
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The problem with high blood pressure has been more the side effects of the prescribed medications. I’ve spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on everything from atenolol to lexapro and, aside from side effects, my life is little changed.
What the lexapro did to me over seven years is worthy of one of those novels about a man driven to insanity so I ditched it about six months ago and though I’m still good for 140/85 just about anytime, I feel better than I have in a long, long time.
So, Dr. Rowena, if you’re prescribing lexapro, I hope none of your patients will react like I did.
Thank you for your Concern about High Blood Pressure.
Most people need this Information by age 60 or before.
My Job (when I was working) was always — sitting in an office. So I need all the Information and Help I can get.
this answer do not satisfy me, give causes of high blood pressure
NOT REALLY AN ANSWER !
What is the best medication for H. B.I take Atenolol and Lisinopril, Can you tell me what you think of this Medication,,,,Thank you Paul
paul i have those medication ,find the nearest garbage bag and throw thjem in there.go natural find a doc who will tel u what natural plants that will help u .they are out there use them
I suffered from hypertension for many years without knowing it, and unaware that it is a very dangerous situation. My doctor prescribed and recommended that I take a daily dose of 50 mg Ternolol for the rest of my life. But I did not like the idea of taking medication on long-term. So I decided to experiment on drinking 500 ml water first thing in the morning, then wait for about an hour before taking breakfast. After a few weeks, I begin to feel more energetic, and I seldom experience headache. I continue to follow the same ritual for the past 3 years, and my b/p contiunes to register a normal reading of around 120/70 …. and of course my sex-life also improves, thanks to the daily intake of B-complex.
Just wondering tiger are still seeing the same doc and if so what does he say about your improvement.
The problem is the first things most doctors do is dump you on drugs for life. They should put a patient on a diet, excercise and stress relief program. Being over weight and having a life full of stress can cause “essential” high blood pressure.
I’m not one at all for taking drugs. But, I think a few doctors, more now, try to get patients to change with diet and excercise. But most just won’t do it or stick with it for very long.
My sisters husband had very high blood pressure, he said the meds made him tired an irritable, so he was only taking half a pill when he should have been taking two. Well, he had a stroke. He’s much better now, but he’s just not the same as before.
He could have gotten the blood pressure down naturally, but, take the medication till you do.
I’ve recently purchased a juicer with the hope that drinking most of my meals (with the added bonus of increased exercise & less stress) my blood pressure will come into the normal rsnge. So far I’ve lost 18 pounds!
When I was younger I worked for a highly recognized expert on heart disease – Dr. John Gofman. I remember well the day he told me that whenever a doctor tells you an ailment is “essential”, what it means is that he has no idea what it is all about.
But then how would doctors (indirectly) promote drug companies and pocket fat commission? Tell me a doctor who spends time with you to thoroughly understand your ailment. In this time he can see a few more patients and make money. Remember, you go to a doc to ‘consult’ him so he is your ‘consultant’ and not you ‘healer’.
It is a wrong assessment.May be some and not most.
Once we find out about highblood pressure, we as adults should take care of ourselves and eat right, exercise and lower our “own” stress. What is the Doctor going to say….quit that stressful life you have or follow you around to make sure you don’t put that doughnut in you mouth.
@ Baseball Bob:
Couldn’t agree with you more!!!
My BP was a tad high when I ended up in hospital with a virus that affected my heart (now cured) and vestibular neuronitis at the same time (also a virus, now cured). I too was told, considering my age (60)I ought to take BP lowering meds. Which one? “Ah, we just have to TRY which one works best. You may need to take several.”
My answer: “This is a trial and error approach. I worked in the building industry and if I would build you a house based on the trial and error approach I would lose my license.” The good doctor stormed out of the surgery, fuming. I gathered my stuff, walked out and have never returned. My BP dropped to the mid 120s/mid70 to 80, but it took a while until I was fully cured of the virus. It is not perfect but, in my opinion not in the range for aggressive drug treatment despite my age. Doctors get angry if patients ask them what exactly they are treating. They tell you ‘Blood pressure’. This can also be changed with a pencil, just write a different number and it is lowered and the cause is as before, nobody knows.
for the most part we do know why people have high blood pressure. It is a compensatory mechanism for not getting enough oxygen to the tissue. We have a chemo – receptor in the brain that monitors this. So the real question is why are we not getting enough O2 around. could it be the lungs, the heart is too weak to pump the blood around, we are anemic and don’t have enough RBC to carry the O2, have we gained weight and have more tissue to perfuse? Treat the cause. The body brings the BP up for a reason.
The answer is not at all satisfactory. Hypertension also fits the definition in the same dictionary for symptom and sign. If hypertension were the disease then when medication is used to return the blood pressure to the normal range then one would expect that the treated patient would have the same prognosis for heart disease as a person that never had hypertension. I think this is not the case indicating that hypertension is a condition somewhere along a likely multibranched pathway between cause(s) and stroke and heart attack. Find the cause(s) and treat them.
YOU ARE CORRECT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF BLOOD PRESSURE NORMAL MAKE LIFE UNPLEASANT,SO THERE SHOULD BE SHORT MEDICINE CORSE WITH WALK,EXERSIZE,WEIGHT REDUCTION..AND OF COURSE DIET
Disagree,
first you need to lower BP immediately to minimize risk of stroke and heart attack. It is than your choice to change your living, diet and exercise habits or stay on drugs for rest of your life.
Can Maca tea leaves from Peru help to lower blood pressure.how about garlic pills ?
Amos
Why cure something that makes hundreds of millions of dollars!!! Common sense!!! Most drug companies look at it that way….. share holders stocks on going disease. Just think what a loss of money it would be to cure the common virus!!! Its all about money,,, greed. medicine for $$$$$!
If HBP is a disease it certainly doesn’t get the attention of other diseases. There are diabetes walks and swims, heart walks and bikeing for MS. But I never see a fund raiser for research for HBP only nor do I see PSA about BP. Shouldn’t there be more for BP awareness than there is now? Or am I missing something?
This is a very god question! When I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure, I was told that I had essential hypertension. I have come to translate that as “We don’t have a clue why you have it, but we can control it!” Not very comforting in today’s medical age. I changed my cardiologist to a doctor who is very athletic, like myself. Together, we try to minimize medications. I am anxious to experiment with non-medicinal ways to control my blood pressure.
@ Richard: see my reply to Baseball Bob above.
Regarding dietary change: Food high in potassium may help lower BP. Read ‘The K factor’ by Richard D. Moore. The book is a bit old, but the advice makes sense and has helped me. He recommends a 4 : 1 Potassium:Sodium ratio for all meals. It will take a while. Basically stick to food that is in its natural state. Most has a high potassium content. Watch how you cook it. Potassium is water soluble, so most of it gets lost in cooking. If you steam or boil food, keep the water and make a soup. (Just as our grand-parents did). Avoid processed foods at all cost and reduce dairy and flesh products, especially red meat. If your BP is not in the danger zone, this is worth a try.
I’ve had hypertension for about 15 years, averaging about 145/94. During my crazy working career it had jumped up to 165/110, but deep breathing brought that down. I briefly tried a 30 day “sample” of Diovan, but didn’t fill the script because I don’t want to become dependent on meds. Recently, after 1-1/2 years of suffering with digestive issues, I found a website greattastenopain.com. The basic info is to not combine protein with starch, i.e., no meat and potatoes, chicken and rice, etc. After 4 weeks of eating like this, I have lost 13 pounds and my blood pressure dropped to 117/76! I have always exercised regularly, but the digestive issues were preventing me from losing weight and dropping my BP. My doctor was so impressed with my results, she jokingly asked if I would go to the waiting room and talk with all the patients 🙂 Yes, proper food combinations and exercise is my new way of life. I had used my Resperate, but not for 2 months prior to my new lifestyle. As marmotte said, avoid processed foods and red meat. Back to the basics, folks!
There are good instances on nature cure where the patients are treated with yoga, breathing excercise and diet with out any medication; I had a personal experience with Jindal Nature Cure ( you can access their web site )at Bangalore , India where I see a numbar pf people keep comming periodically from all over the wrld for corrective steps to overcome the BP among other related melodies. We must encourage nature cure alternatives to allopathy for hypertension.
My blood pressure use to be 185/140. Now I have cut all my salt out in my foods & I take walks as often as possible. By doing that, my blood pressure is now around 125/85 which is alot better! I took a couple different pills to lower it & had bad side affects. One of them put me in the hospital & they even thought I was having a heart attack. So, which is worse, taking those pills or having your blood pressure a tad high?
I truly believe that as long as bp is under 140/80 its ok vs trying to get it down lower with poison.
Drugs are poison to your body. Try diet, exercise, better rest, weight loss, and natural supplements, including natural diuretics, to get off of medications if you can………Resperate can help!
There is at least 1 time release medication that is used to lower blood pressure. Metoprolol, a beta-blocker.
Vi
The email ID suggests that I am taking a vacation of this summer Europe!!
1. Right to get de stressed, take your wife along she tooo requires the same,,routine adds stress levels.If she is OK ur OK.
2. having said that I got a mail passed on in the usual manner,
Half Cups of Ginger juice , half cup of lemon juice, half cup of Garlic juice, half cup of Apple Cider ( vinegar) i.e. 4 X half cups ;boil them and reduce the content to one and half cup , drink a large teaspoon with a large spoon of Honey in the mornings, alternate days, summer you can reduce the frequency, do it for 2-3 months , see your fitness level increase. Individually each of these ingredients are Good , collectively they can do wonders!!
3. Atenol intake depends on your condition I take 25 mg tablet , half in morn and half eve, skip it if not whiskying (not advised).
4 Golf twice a week with different persons, same players get on your nerves asking for strokes.!!
5. 4 days of vigorous walking to break a sweat.
6. Breathing ex as per yoga regime, for BP given in web sites.
7 Last dont think about it, its gotta come anyway,cope with it, like youve done marriage, ONE BIG PACKAGE. Cheers
Bindi
For several years, I had to take medication to keep in check my BP, even though I was a senior athlete and exercised regularly. On one visit, my doctor had a suspicion that my liver was enlarged and sent me for an untrasound. That revealed that I had a serious kidney problem. The kidney was removed. Since then I have had no problems with HBP. My concern, after the surgery, was “Why was the HBP treated and no attempt made to find out why I had it, since my doctor felt that, given my fitness regimen, I should not have had it?” Treating the symptom, missing the disease?
Why if I quit smoking, during next four months my blood pressure began to increase? I´m 63. Thanks.
Hypertension is a SYMPTOM, not the disease causing it. It probably got defined as a disease because Big Pharma found a way to lower numbers. Unfortunately, that does nothing to improve health. I’m on BP meds and have side effects no matter which ones we’ve tried. When I asked if it would be better to figure out what’s wrong, I was told that no insurance company would cover the cost of figuring it out. Medicating to control BP is like removing the bulb in the dash behind your oil pressure lamp on the dash of your car! That said, just the high pressure can cause problems – so until we figure out that high blood pressure can be caused even by a low level infection in the system that is not manifesting itself in symptoms serious AND obvious, we’re stuck. It’s too bad that modern medical students are being sent into practice assuming hypertension is a disease… Our brains are the meta-mind or system manager of all the body’s sub-system. It knows exactly what it’s doing and why. We need to see all of what we call diseases as evidence or indicators of disease. High temperature is called fever. It’s not a disease. It’s a symptom of something wrong that the brain is trying to get rid of through high heat. Many bacteria are destroyed by heat. High blood pressure is the same thing – a symptom. I don’t know why it is so difficult for doctors to say “I don’t know…”
I have struggled with HBP for 12-13 years. Recently it got worse. I went from 262 to 230 and still cant get the BP normal without 3 meds. My stress test is fine. no cholesterol problems. Will losing another 30 pounds allow me to come off the meds?
Dale: My goodness – you have struggled with high blood pressure for 12 years. Please check out http://www.resperate.com and learn about a natural way of lowering your blood pressure, without drugs. I have been using the Resperate device for over two years and I plan on using it for the rest of my life. My blood pressure now averages 118/65 – better than when I was much younger! Empower yourself to take charge of your health. Along with using the Resperate, I also watch my salt intake, take lots of vitamins and work out at the gym five days a week. Please check it out and start helping yourself to a better life.
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