Hypertension/High Blood Pressure – Why Do so Many People Have It?
A large percentage of my adult patients are being treated for hypertension. 50 million Americans are diagnosed with hypertension, 1 billion worldwide. Another alarming fact is that 3% of children are diagnosed with hypertension and 16% have pre-hypertension.
When your blood pressure is taken the pressure of the blood on the wall of the blood vessel is measured. The top number refers to the pressure in the blood vessels when the left ventricle is contracted. This is called systolic blood pressure. The lower number is called diastolic pressure. This occurs when the heart is not pumping blood into the blood vessels.
· Normal adult blood pressure is 120/80 which is systolic/diastolic.
· Pre-hypertension is 120 to 139/80 to 89
· Hypertension is 140 to 159/ 90 to 99 of course these numbers can go quite a bit higher.
The risk factors for hypertension are:
· Overweight
· Sedentary Lifestyle
· Poor Diet
· Toxic Exposure
Hypertension can cause numerous medical problems.
· Visual Changes
· Kidney Failure
· Heart Failure
· Heart Attacks
· Stroke
I would like to explain how fat causes high blood pressure. The fat cells secrete many pro-inflammatory chemicals (cytokines). One of them is called leptin. Leptin stimulates the brain to increase sympathetic tone. Increased sympathetic tone is the fight and flight response, your blood pressure increases and your heart rate increases. The fat cells also secrete 5 other chemicals that cause inflammation. This inflammation leads to changes in our blood vessels causing them to become stiff. This increases our blood pressure as well as increases our risk for cardiovascular disease.
You can prevent and even fix hypertension without the use of medication. If you have very high blood pressure as well as other signs such as dizziness, fainting and abnormal heart rhythm you need to take medication and be evaluated by a cardiologist.
All of the following suggestions are backed by tons of research.
· The 1st thing you should do is to change your diet. The Mediterranean diet of the Paleolithic diet. Avoid eating commercially prepared foods.
· You should start some form of physical activity. That sounds better than exercise. Start with 20 minutes a day. Yoga has been shown to lower blood pressure.
· Get rid of toxins in your environment. That means don’t bring anything in your house with toxic chemicals. Change your cleaning products to “green products.” I can explain the pathways the causes of hypertension and other diseases but I’m sure it will bore you. Avoid plastic food containers. Don’t drink beverages out of plastic or Styrofoam cups. The lids on paper cups are made of plastic.
· Believe it or not chiropractic has been shown to lower blood pressure. This was reported in the Journal of Hypertension
· Get quality sleep between 7 and 8 hours.
· Nutritional supplements such as magnesium, potassium, taurine, beet root, hawthorn, Burberry, specific amino acids, and herbs have great success in lowering blood pressure.
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