HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE - THE SILENT KILLER
Public Health England states that high blood pressure or hypertension is the third biggest risk factor for all diseases. High blood pressure is responsible for half of all strokes and heart attacks. It is a risk factor for heart disease, kidney disease and vascular dementia. It rarely has obvious symptoms; that is why it is called “the silent killer.” It is estimated that one in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure In England alone, it is estimated that there are more than five million people undiagnosed. High blood pressure costs the NHS a whopping £2.5 billion per year. According to Public Health England, reducing the average blood pressure of the nation by just 5mmHg over 10 years would save the NHS and Social Care £850 million.
What does the blood pressure machine measure when your doctor inflates a cuff on your arm? There are two measurements. Systolic (the higher number) shows the pressure in your arteries when your heart contracts. Diastolic shows the pressure in your arteries between heartbeats (when your muscle is resting). What is normal or healthy blood pressure? 130 or under for the Systolic measurement. 80 or under for the Diastolic measurement. If blood pressure creeps up to 140/90, this is mild to moderate hypertension. Statistics show that two thirds of heart attacks occur with blood pressure in the mildly elevated range. It is also possible to have too low blood pressure with its attendant problems but in this Newsletter, I am concentrating on high blood pressure.
WHY IS CHRONICLY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE UNDESIRABLE?
Because it forces the heart to constantly work harder to send blood to all the cells round the body. This causes the heart to gradually enlarge over time. It then runs out of energy and starts to fail. In congestive heart failure, the heart is so weak that it can’t pump adequate amounts of blood to meet the body’s needs. This is a major trigger for fatal strokes and heart attacks. The higher the blood pressure, the more strain on the blood vessels.
CAUSES AND RISK FACTORS FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
10% of high blood pressure is caused by a primary underlying medical condition such as overactive thyroid, overactive adrenals and kidney disease. But 90% of high blood pressure is caused by an increased resistance in blood vessels triggered by a) oxidative stress/free radicals (imbalance of toxins and ability to get rid of them) and b) endothelial cell unfriendliness (the lining of the blood vessels is chronically inflamed and constricted). If you can’t quench the fire of inflammation in your blood vessels, the pressure goes up.
What are the risk factors for inflamed blood vessels?
Emotional stress
Insulin resistance/Syndrome X - a collection of symptoms that includes weight gain especially round the middle, impaired carbohydrate tolerance, abnormal blood fats (low HDL and high triglycerides), and high blood pressure.
Infections of all kinds - dental, gut, sinus, systemic.
High homocysteine - this is a protein produced by the body. Elevated homocysteine is an arterial poison.
Poor diet of inflammatory foods like refined sugars and flour.
Lack of nutrients to support arterial and heart health.
Sedentary lifestyle.
High toxic load - heavy metals, pesticides, chemicals in foods etc.
Thick blood - like red ketchup, as opposed to red wine.
There are certain ethnic groups that may be more predisposed to inflammation of the blood vessels. These include: African Americans, Hispanics, women. Women have smaller hearts and blood vessels than men. Therefore, when a woman develops high blood pressure, she may be more predisposed towards diastolic dysfunction (problems with the provision of energy to the left ventricle of the heart). Additionally, the body changes of menopause can throw a curve into blood pressure. The answer is to address the causes of the imbalances.
SOLUTIONS TO HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
The conventional medical approach to consistently high blood pressure is a choice of drugs like ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers and diuretics to reduce the blood pressure readings. The prescribing GP should monitor this regularly. If you have any underlying kidney dysfunction, it becomes even more important to get your blood pressure under control. Lifestyle measures are vital even when you take pharmaceutical drugs.
The Functional Medicine approach to high blood pressure includes looking for and addressing the causes. Once these have been isolated, interventions such as the following might be implemented:
Anti-inflammatory diet - the Mediterranean-style/Ancestral-style diet is promoted by integrative cardiologists. It eliminates pro-inflammatory foods like refined sugars, excess carbohydrates, processed, chemical-laden, salt-laden foods, canned foods, fruit juices, carbonated drinks, alcohol and substitutes them with endothelial-friendly foods such as vegetables, garlic, onions, olive oil, sardines, chia, flax, avocados, a little Himalayan/sea salt etc. This reduces insulin spikes which would spike blood pressure and removes the key inflammatory foods which can also dysregulate blood pressure i.e. gluten, cows’ milk etc.
Targeted supplements - even if you have the best anti-inflammatory organic diet, you still need to use supplements targeted for your specific needs. This is called Metabolic Cardiology (see videos by U.S. cardiologist Dr Stephen Sinatra) - supporting energy production and heart function. Dr Sinatra includes what he calls The Awesome Four (Co Q 10, magnesium, ribose and L-carnitine). There are many natural agents to choose from with specific functions: nattokinase, magnesium, potassium, Co Q 10, Omega 3, Vitamin C, hawthorn, gingko biloba and others. These are all backed by scientific studies. If you are vegetarian, you will need items that are not supplied by a vegetarian, vegan diet like Co Q 10.
Lose weight/belly fat if needed. Reverse Syndrome X/insulin resistance with diet and supplements.
Aerobic exercise - gentle walking, moving, swimming at a pace you can safely cope with. It should be fun. After gentle exercise, blood vessels dilate which allows blood pressure numbers to drop.
Detoxification - Toxins in the body = oxidative stress + free radicals = vasoconstriction of blood vessels = blood pressure numbers rise. Detox methods should be simple and non aggressive. They include eating more fibre to wash the toxins out of the GI tract and produce better bowel movements. Vegetable smoothies made with a NutriBullet could also include psyllium, flax and chia seeds. Moving the body also increases energy in the GI tract. Sweating and gentle sauna helps the body excrete toxic chemicals. Safe mercury amalgam replacement stops the toxic tap in the mouth.
Reduce stress - Stress triggers a discharge of hormones like adrenaline, cortisol etc. This hormone overdose sends blood pressure up. To reduce stress, you must first identify your main sources of stress. If a person or toxic relationship is making you feel bad, this calls for a plan to become more at cause over the situation. Similarly, if there is a specific situation that is causing stress, a strategy to handle makes you more at cause. For general stress reduction, find activities which make you relax, walking in Nature, Buteyko breathing, connecting with a loving pet, unravelling emotional blocks. Dr Sinatra has said that the emotional block that results from held in anger and resentment is the Achilles heel for the cardiovascular system. It can adversely affect blood pressure. Interestingly, he cites a clinical study in which people able to release their emotions through crying and hugging maintained better blood pressure. This raises the question whether psychiatric medications often prescribed for stress, may help to raise blood pressure by blocking emotions.
Address infections - this is particularly true for dental and hidden jawbone infections i.e. lesions in the bone after poorly healed extractions, especially in the wisdom tooth areas. The insidious nature of these infections is that they often produce no symptoms at all. I have seen several cases of blood pressure normalise after dental infections were cleaned out.
Earthing/grounding - this is walking barefoot on the Earth on sand, beach, grass, tile, concrete, leather, but not asphalt or neoprene. The Earth is struck by lightning a couple of thousand times every minute, particularly in the equator region. Lightening strikes feed the earth with electrons. Walking barefoot enables the feet to take in the electrons via acupuncture points. This helps to neutralise oxidative stress, a major component of high blood pressure.
White Coat Syndrome
Finally, if you are getting your blood pressure checked in a doctor’s office, the stress of the experience, the tightness on the arm, the concern about the figures, can send the blood pressure readings up when they may be within range if taken in the comfort of your own home. This is known in the medical literature as white coat hypertension. One thing you must remember to do is to breathe when having your blood pressure taken - if you don’t breathe, this sends the blood pressure up.
If you are having a problem with your blood pressure and would like to discover the causes so you can take responsibility for your health, please contact the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com to request a free 30 minute Enquiry Call or book an appointment.