High blood pressure is a sign, not a disease

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High blood pressure is a sign, not a disease; beware the side effects of

artificially lowering blood pressure

 

 

Provided by Essential Fats

by E. Siguel, MD PhD

 

 

 

 

 

 

Washington DC (healthnewsreview) For most people, high blood pressure is a

sign that the circulatory system (blood pipes) are partially obstructed and

inelastic, and that the heart must pump blood at a higher pressure to reach

the far corners of the body. Thus, high blood pressure is not a disease or

something wrong, but rather a way for the body to compensate for a defective

circulatory system. If you have an old house with twisted and partially

obstructed pipes, the water may be slowed enough to prevent it from reaching

the far corners of your lawn. To compensate, you could increase the incoming

water pressure and speed up the water. The higher water pressure is not a

defect (its not a bad solution, as long as your pipes dont burst!). However,

the need to increase the water pressure to get enough water for your house

means there is probably a problem with your pipes. Instead of turning up the

water pressure, which can press on the brittle pipes and break them, it

would be better to

have the pipes cleaned or replaced so that regular water pressure will

suffice to water your lawn.

Similarly, the heart pumps harder and increases the blood pressure when the

circulatory system is defective. Reducing high blood pressure with drugs or

treatments without correcting the underlying problem means that the

circulatory system does not have enough pressure to send blood to the far

corners of the body. Over time, portions of the brain, kidneys, toes, and

parts far away from the main arteries begin to die because they lack food

and oxygen.

Usually, drugs treat something wrong. For example, AIDS drugs attempt to

suppress the AIDS virus. For insulin dependent diabetics (Type I), insulin

drugs replace the insulin that the pancreas is supposed to make. Cancers are

diseased cells that must be killed ASAP using drugs or radiation or surgery

or other therapy. In contrast to these and many other conditions that

respond well to drug therapy, high blood pressure is usually not a disease

but a sign of something wrong with the circulation. High blood pressure

increases the risk of a vessel breaking and causing a stroke or other

trouble

When the vessels are under high blood pressure all the time, they are likely

to break. A broken vessel in the brain causes a stroke that damages the

brain. An artery under high pressure may break inside the body (causing

internal bleeding), and can damage the heart, the kidney, and other organs.

When the pressure is very high, it must be reduced as soon as possible to

prevent breaking an artery. Thus, drugs can be an appropriate treatment

until other approaches (weight loss, diet) take effect. Otherwise, in most

cases, blood pressure can be reduced slowly with appropriate diet and

exercise. Treatments that lower blood pressure without correcting the

circulation problem may have undesirable side effects

There are many treatments for high blood pressure. It is fairly easy to

identify those that seek to correct the reason why the body is pumping blood

at high pressure, and those that merely seek to stop the body from pumping

blood at high pressure.

Weight loss and special diets seek to reduce the stress of the circulatory

system, and clean up the arteries. When the body is smaller (slimmer) and/or

the arteries are more elastic and clean, and the blood is more fluid (does

not stick too much), then the blood flows better and the heart does not need

to increase its pressure for the blood to reach everywhere. These treatments

are effective because they correct the reason for high blood pressure and

make it easier for the body to feed itself. They have practically no side

effects, and are likely to improve brain and heart function.

Treatments such as acupuncture or drugs usually lower blood pressure by

either changing the way the heart works, or by changing how the blood

vessels respond (for example, dilating the vessels). Dilating the vessels is

no substitute for cleaning the vessels, although it may be a temporary

solution. Dilating the vessels can be risky if a vessel breaks.

There are some people that have a disease that causes high blood pressure,

such as a tumor or unusual genetic factors. In those individuals, blood

pressure may need to be treated with drugs.

Moral (healthnewsreview).

We do have an effective treatment for high blood pressure: be slim (eat

less, exercise more) and eat a mixture of lean protein and essential fats.

There are now several dietary approaches that have shown excellent results

to lower high blood pressure, abnormal lipids and reduce the risk of heart

disease. Visit essentialfats.com for details.

A nutrient dense diet includes plenty of protein and essential fats and

minimizes intake of processed carbohydrates and processed fat. A

multivitamin with minerals (100% RDA) taken 3-5 times per week will provide

adequate levels of nutrients for most patients. Some patients need

additional supplements, to be recommended by their health care provider.

References (essentialfats.com).

Siguel E. Essential Fatty Acids in Health and Disease. 1994. Essentialfats,

P.O. Box 10187, Gaithersburg MD 20898. This material is merely an opinion;

it is not advice and should not be used for any purpose other than

entertainment. By reading or using the information contained in or implied

by this article, you agree that the content provider shall not be liable for

any content errors, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. This

information likely contains material errors. Use of this information is

subject to the disclaimer and the terms and conditions at essentialfats.com.

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availability. © 2002 Edward Siguel. All

rights reserved.

 

 

Copyright 1999 Edward N. Siguel.