Posted on 01/09/2020 6:20:28 AM PST by ConservativeMind
The October, November, and December 2013 issues of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension (a conservative journal) each included a section of a major research review article on a topic that hard-science, data-driven clinicians might not have taken seriously until recently. The topic under consideration: replacing antihypertensive medications with appropriate nutrition and nutraceutical supplements.
“People’s eyes have been opened,” he said. There has been amazement at how much science is in the literature to back up such strategies, he added, and surprise about the extent to which hypertension patients are clamoring to know more about ways to avoid or reduce the polypharmacy offered by conventional practitioners.
Functional medicine practitioners, aware of the increase in complex, chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune disorders, focus on identifying the underlying causes of disease and look for interactions between genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. They seek to promote health and vitality by integrating conventional practices with prevention through combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification, exercise, and stress management rather than emphasizing acute symptom relief, urgent care, and elimination of illness and disease.
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The new treatment approach, Dr. Houston said, views hypertension as a disease in which the vascular biology is altered and the arteries need to be treated appropriately through nonpharmacological mechanisms: nutrition, nutraceutical supplements, antioxidants, weight loss, exercise, meditation, and sleep. Then the pharmacological approach can be integrated to achieve the maximum reduction and protection of the cardiovascular system. The preferred drugs are angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), and calcium-channel blockers (CCBs). Dr. Houston, in general, does not recommend beta blockers, diuretics, central alpha agonists, or alpha blockers. “But if you change the lifestyle and give it some time, eventually you probably can get [patients] off many of the drugs.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ...
“The preferred drugs are angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), and calcium-channel blockers (CCBs). Dr. Houston, in general, does not recommend beta blockers, diuretics, central alpha agonists, or alpha blockers. “But if you change the lifestyle and give it some time, eventually you probably can get [patients] off many of the drugs.”
Of these, it seems the “angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs)” have the least drawbacks and of these, it appears “telmisartan” may have a better effect.
An early study on ARBs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200815/#!po=28.8462
Meh. My wife and I are both 66 and have zero health insurance. We do it all naturally and are healthier than our friends. We do no drugs, though my wife does take Claritin for alergies.
Diet and exercise. End of story.
April 2014 article...
Want to lower BP and lose weight? Here’s my bumper sticker diet:
“Moderation—Lean Protein—Fresh Vegetables”
The Ketogenic way of eating is the answer to many, many health problems.
Eat well and move more.
I use calcium channel blockers. It does more than lower blood pressure, it stops spasms that caused my heart attack. Even if my blood pressure stayed low with diet and exercise I would still take this drug.
Hypertension is the “silent” killer.
If you have high blood pressure it needs to be addressed immediately. If left untreated it will ruin the quality of your life(kidney failure, heart failure) and eventually end your life.
WHATEVER it takes: Diet, Exercise, Pharmaceuticals, Natural Supplements, etc. - DO IT NOW and lower your blood pressure if it is high.
Gonna stick with my Lisinopril, mkay.
“My wife and I are both 66 and have zero health insurance. We do it all naturally and are healthier than our friends.”
If you guys are American, you should have Medicare, at least. And if you you’re not aware, if you delay basic coverage, and then decide to sign up, your rates are significantly higher for the rest of your life.
(just some info, just in case, but great job, so far)
We’re there too but you should sign up for medicare and maybe a supplemental. Healthy eating and exercise did not keep me from severely breaking my ankle November 2018. All my medical bills were paid. I also had a mild case of breast cancer which was IMHO caused by deep grief.
Lisinopril is what I take and it appears to be having a decent effect. However I do not like the extreme hacking cough that it produces. This is a known side effect.
I do mostly healthy diet, exercise some, normal weight and try to keep stress low. Still I have to take a low dose BP med or my pressure elevates.
I’m all for going all natural if it could work on a consistent basis. On the other hand I don’t want to risk a stroke or heart attack. At age 63 so less miles ahead than behind.
Does Lisinopril mean I won’t have a heart attack like my dad and brother?
a whole food, plant based diet can do that for you without any medications at all.
Impossible. It’s hard to argue with a juicy ribeye.
Same thing with some sort of Part D (prescription) coverage. If you don’t sign up age 65 (I think that’s the age requirement) for prescription coverage, but you do it later, the premium with be higher - for life. Such a scam.
I’d be dead if it weren’t for the drugs.
I read a story here last week about a young runner who had a severe stroke because she went with natural remedies.
If you wish to prevent a heart attack, you need exercise, preferably running. If you cannot run for 20 to 30 minutes, a few times a week, you are at risk.
The body wants to moderately breath hard, hyperventilate, after brisk exercise. That is your heart savior.
You have been forewarned. :-)
It still amazes me how so many people read next to mothing about maintaining health. It makes me wish I had becomes a Doctor so that I could ply patients with useless drugs. So many patients buy into snake oil drugs.
Plan B comes with SS at no charge. The other plans cost. The “problem” we have is that health insurance really has very little to offer as it is presented today. Part of the problem is the deductible. The other side of that, though, is that some of the treatments they offer we would not avail ourselves to, even if they were free.
To wit, we have several friends who were either completely cured of cancer, or followed up treatment to be completely cured, using things like diet, marijuana, etc.
And finally, we have two miraculous healings in our lives. And that doesn’t include all the healing that went on that we just can’t “prove” were miraculous.
On a side note, we’ve saved almost $100,000 after tax dollars by not having health insurance ever since obama care kicked in (1/1/2014).
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