Your doctor may use the technical term hypertension, but it is more commonly called high blood pressure and at least 65 million American adults have high blood pressure. That translates into almost one-third of all American adults, and two thirds of all Americans over the age of 65. Because high blood pressure often has no warning signs or symptoms, it is often called “the silent killer”. High blood pressure is a very dangerous condition. If you don’t treat high blood pressure it can kill you and unfortunately, one-third of the people that have high blood pressure don’t even know it. One important thing to know about high blood pressure is that you can’t cure it. You can only treat high blood pressure with lifestyle changes and medication, and you will need to treat it for the rest of your life.
What is blood pressure? Blood pressure is the amount of force your blood is putting on to the walls of your arteries as it is moved through your body by your heart. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry the oxygen rich blood away from your heart and to all the muscles, organs and tissues in your body.Without this oxygen rich blood, your muscles, organs and tissues would die and eventually, so would you. Blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day, and changes heartbeat to heartbeat.
How is blood pressure measured? The test is quick and painless. The doctor or nurse puts a cuff around your upper arm (the technical term for the devices is a sphygmomanometer; pronounced sfig’-mo-ma-nom-e-ter). This device is used to get an actual measurement of the pressure inside your arteries. Your blood pressure measurement is made up of two numbers, one above or before the other. The top or first number which is technically called systolic blood pressure is the pressure in your arteries while your heart contracts during a heart beat. The bottom number is technically called your diastolic blood pressure and it is the pressure in your arteries as your heart relaxes between heart beats.
If you have ever felt your pulse in your wrist or your neck you have felt the differences between your systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The pulse you are feeling is the heart beating, which creates your systolic blood pressure. Between pulses, your heart is relaxing and the measurement of pressure during that time is your diastolic blood pressure.
These two numbers make up what is called your blood pressure reading. For example a blood pressure measurement of 120/80mmHg (that is, millimeters of mercury) means the pressure measured during a heart beat is 120, and measured in between heart beats at 80. This measurement would be expressed verbally as “120 over 80”. Both numbers in the test are important.
Why is high blood pressure dangerous? High blood pressure is dangerous because it makes your heart work too hard, and puts undue stress on your arteries. Having high blood pressure increases your chance of having a heart attack or stroke, (the 1st and 3rd leading causes of death). In fact, every 20mmHg increase in your systolic blood pressure or 10mmHg increase in your diastolic blood pressure DOUBLES your risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke. It also contributes to your chance of developing other conditions such as congestive heart failure, kidney disease and even blindness. High blood pressure is especially dangerous because it often has no warning signs or symptoms. Regardless of age, race, or gender anyone can develop high blood pressure and once it develops, it usually lasts a lifetime. So it is especially important to continue treatment of high blood pressure for a lifetime.
What is high blood pressure? By viewing the table below, you can see that a reading of 140/90 is considered high. If your blood pressure is between 120/80 and 139/89 you are considered prehypertensive. That means you don’t have high blood pressure now, but you are probably going to develop it in the future.You can take steps now by adopting a healthy lifestyle to reduce your risk of developing it in the future.
Blood Pressure Level (mmHg)
Category Systolic Diastolic
Normal Less than 120 and Less than 80
Pre-
hypertension 120-139 or 80-89
High
Blood Pressure
Stage 1
Hypertension 140–159 or 90–99
Stage 2
Hypertension > or = to 160 or > or = to 100
At the age of 55, if you do not have high blood pressure, there is still a 90% chance you will develop it in the future. As you can see, high blood pressure is a disease that most people will develop over their lifetime. Your doctor will make a diagnosis of high blood pressure if the results of your test are high on two separate occasions.
There are two numbers! Which one is the most important? Both numbers are important. But once you are over the age of 50, the top number or systolic blood pressure becomes the more accurate reading for high blood pressure. It is high if it is 140 or above. Diastolic blood pressure does not need to be high for you to have high blood pressure.
When only the top number or systolic blood pressure is high, your doctor calls it “isolated systolic hypertension” or ISH. This is the most common form of high blood pressure in older Americans. You may have ISH and feel fine. As with other kinds of high blood pressure, ISH often has no symptoms or warning signs. Also like any form of high blood pressure ISH is dangerous if left untreated. Like all types of high blood pressure, ISH can never be cured once it has developed, it can only be controlled.
Many studies have proven that controlling high systolic blood pressure can reduce deaths, illness, and improve quality of life; most Americans do not have their systolic blood pressure under control.
Diastolic blood pressure or the bottom number continues to be an important measure of blood pressure, especially in younger people. The higher the diastolic number, the greater the risk of heart attack, strokes, and kidney failure. As people get older, the diastolic blood pressure reading tends to get lower as the systolic number tends to get higher.Your doctor will use both number when determining your blood pressure category and the appropriate prevention and treatment.
What causes high blood pressure? The causes of high blood pressure vary. It may include narrowing or hardening of the arteries, a greater than normal blood volume, or the heart beating faster or more forcefully than it should. Any of these things will increase the pressure against the artery wall. High blood pressure could be caused by another medical condition like gestational hypertension (high blood pressure during pregnancy). Or it may even be limited to a specific part of your body like pulmonary hypertension, but those conditions are rare. By far, the most common cause of hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a genetic predisposition which is called “essential hypertension”.
How is high blood pressure treated? Along with there being a lot of different causes of high blood pressure, there are also a lot of different treatment options for high blood pressure.Your minimum treatment goal is to have your blood pressure below 140/90 and even lower for people with diabetes, kidney disease or other conditions. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is an important factor, however most patients will require medication to control high blood pressure. Many patients need two, three or even four different types of prescription medications at once to control their high blood pressure. Because high blood pressure can be deadly, it is important that patients get and keep blood pressure under control, and monitor it at home as well as with your doctor.
Hypertension, more commonly called high blood pressure, is often referred as "the silent killer" because it often shows no signs or symptoms. In the United States alone, at least65 million American adults have high blood pressure.
There are many different types of blood pressure lowering medications that your doctor may prescribe, however these prescriptions can cause certain nutritional deficiencies that may increase your risk for chronic degenerative diseases. NutraMD High Blood Pressure Essential Nutrients® supplement was designed to work with your blood pressure lowering medications by replacing lost nutrients, reducing the risk of dangerous side effects, and promote better health.
Types of High Blood Pressure Medications
The main categories of blood pressure lowering medications that deplete your nutrients are:
Diuretics (loop, potassium sparing, and thiazide),
ACE inhibitors
Beta blockers
Central alpha agonists.
Why do I need blood pressure medication?
The main reason for your doctor to prescribe blood pressure medicines is because there is clear evidence that any blood pressure reading greater than 115/75 has an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke, and a greater risk of sudden death. This risk increases dramatically with a blood pressure reading above 140/90. The main problem with blood pressure medications as a whole is that they have been found to cause depletion of the following nutrients: Calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, sodium, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), folate, vitamin B1 (thiamin), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), and vitamin C. Calcium, magnesium, potassium, and CoQ10 deficiencies are directly linked to high blood pressure. Therefore reducing their amounts in the body can make it more difficult for your doctor to normalize your blood pressure.
Why are these nutrients important?
* Calcium deficiency is related to osteoporosis, and arthritis.
* Magnesium is responsible for more than 300 chemical reactions in the body.
* Vitamin A deficiency is related to high cholesterol, diabetes, depression, muscle and joint pain, osteoporosis, heart arrhythmias, fatigue, and many more.
* Potassium deficiency is related to heart arrhythmias, and mental disturbances.
* Zinc is responsible for more than 200 chemical reactions in the body. Deficiency of zinc is related to heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, psoriasis, gout, and more.
* CoQ10 deficiency has been linked to the following diseases and symptoms: Congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, rhabdomyolysis (muscle break down), muscle and joint pain, angina (pains in the chest), and fatigue.
* Folate deficiency is directly related to heart disease, cancer, neural tube defects, anemia, and more.
* Vitamin B1 deficiency is related to congestive heart failure, depression, muscle pain, and fatigue.
* Vitamin B6 deficiency is linked with heart disease, carpal tunnel syndrome, PMS, depression, and fatigue.
* Vitamin C deficiency is related to heart disease, high cholesterol, muscle pain, and osteoporosis.
Many of these side nutritional side effects are well known, which is why your doctor may monitor your serum electrolytes (calcium, potassium, magnesium, and chloride) while you are on some of these medications, however, serum electrolyte levels are not good markers for tissue levels of these nutrients and thus do not reliably detect nutritional deficiencies.
Therefore to achieve maximum benefit from the blood pressure medication and minimize potential side effects of nutrient deficiencies, you should compliment your prescription medication by taking NutraMD High Blood Pressure Essential Nutrients® supplement. By doing this you will balance the risk/benefit ratio further in your favor.
In summary, blood pressure lowering medications prescribed by your doctor are necessary to treat your condition, however, you should also be aware that the long term potential nutritional side effects can be just as big a risk factor for your condition and for other conditions as well. Put the odds in your favor and maintain your health with NutraMD High Blood Pressure Essential Nutrients® supplement.
High Blood Pressure Essential Nutrients® supplement are designed for patients taking blood pressure agents such as Lasix (furosemide)or hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) which can deplete levels of Vitamins B1, B6, C, Magnesium, Calcium, Potassium, Zinc, Sodium and Coenzyme Q10. Products like Toprol, Coreg, Inderal, Corgard, Atenolol, Catapres or Aldomet can also deplete levels of Coenzyme Q10, and products that contain Apresoline that can deplete levels of Vitamin B6 as well as Coenzyme Q10.
http://www.essential-nutrients.net/
C. Donald Ford, MD, Diplomate of the American Board Internal Medicine.
Dr. Ford has practiced general internal medicine for the past 22 years. He is a native Texan and trained at Baylor University, the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and Scott and White in Temple. He is a Clinical Assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine. In addition to general Internal Medicine, his practice includes travel medicine, vascular disease prevention, and Integrative Medicine with nutrients. He has been interested in the body’s ability to heal itself since medical school, and has used nutrients throughout his career to help patients use less prescription medication, or avoid it altogether.While he sees the tremendous value prescription medications can provide, he is also aware of the value and place for nutrients.
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