Natural Health Alternative Blog

For most people who have been diagnosed with high blood pressure they will also be told their cholesterol is too high (over 88 percent, in fact).  Traditional Western medicine dictates that we are prescribed pills by our doctor to treat both conditions.

In addition to this we most often told to change our exercise and eating habits.  For many, this means adopting some sort of exercise routine after years of inactivity.

All of this we do without question, for the most part, rightfully so.  If blood pressure and cholesterol are high, medication often works.  Diet and exercise tend to be improved but often, a new habit, even if healthy is not one that is easily adopted.

Medication is easier, because it involves very little investment.  Pick up the prescription(s) and take it every day.  It’s not until other side effects of the medication appear that we even question why we need to take it.

Let’s go back to the basics.  Why is it important to get control of high blood pressure, or hypertension?  High blood pressure can eventually lead to tissue damage which includes the heart, kidneys and eyes.  This, in turn, can lead to heart attack, stroke, blindness and other adverse health effects if left untreated.

High blood pressure is defined as a systolic reading of 140 or higher and diastolic pressure of 90 or higher.  High blood pressure generally presents with no symptoms, hence, the “silent killer” title. 

Cholesterol is a fatty or waxy substance that is found in cell walls and tissues all over the body including the heart, liver, brain, skin, nerves and intestines.  Cholesterol is needed by the body in order to produce certain needed hormones, process vitamin D and bile needed to break down fats.

Only a very small amount of cholesterol is needed to do this, however.  Too much cholesterol in the body can lead to deposits and buildup in the arteries.  One area this causes concern is in the coronary arteries.  This can lead to coronary heart disease (CHD). 

Left untreated, this can cause a narrowing of the artery walls, thus limiting the amount of blood (and with it vital oxygen) that passes to the heart muscle.  This can in turn, lead to angina (chest pain) and eventually heart attack.

High cholesterol can be discovered with simple blood tests.  Low-density lipoprotein or LDL (bad cholesterol), high- density lipoprotein, or HDL (good cholesterol) and triglycerides (other fatty substances in the blood) are measured.

Several studies have shown that diets high in saturated fats (fats which come from animal products and some oils) can lead to high cholesterol.  Other factors include heredity (history of high cholesterol in one’s family), obesity, age (cholesterol increases with age), sex (men under 55 typically have higher cholesterol rates than women under 55), stress levels and alcohol use.
 
While moderate drinking actually shows an increase in HDL levels, it doesn’t lower LDL levels and excessive drinking can lead to liver disease and high blood pressure.

While high blood pressure does not lead to high cholesterol, studies tell us that they are two of the leading controllable risk factors for heart disease, the number one killer in developed countries.  These same studies tell us that the chances of someone with high blood pressure and low cholesterol (and vice-versa) are less than 10 percent.
 
This shouldn’t be surprising as they share many of the same risk factors (age, weight, diet).  Added to this, it takes different drugs to treat each condition.  This often leads to multiple medications and a greatly increased chance for dangers of drug interactions.

What can you do to lower your cholesterol?  I highly encourage you to try my Beat Cholesterol in Thirty Days program.  It is an all natural, easy to follow program.  If high blood pressure is also your concern, my High Blood Pressure program has helped thousands of people find relief.  I highly encourage you to try it today!

EL331002

I take my health very seriously and am always interested in knowing what I can do to improve and maintain my health, most preferably, naturally.

I am also very interested in knowing what I have control over (diet, exercise, etc.) and what I don’t have control over (genetics, mass pollution, etc) where my health is concerned.

On a regular basis, I perform research on health topics that are important to me and my clients. As a result of this research I recently came across a lot of information on cytomegalovirus, or CMV and its recent link to high blood pressure.

Like so many viruses, CMV takes its name from Greek - cyto (cell) plus megalo (large). This virus is actually part of a larger herpes virus family. It is part of the same virus family of which mononucleosis is a member.

Between 60-99 percent of the population has the CMV virus. It is found in all countries and socioeconomic communities, although percentages of infection are higher in developing countries. It can be passed via close contact with bodily fluids such as saliva, urine and semen.

I found this number to be of concern for two reasons. First, even 60 percent of the population is an extremely large number to be affected by a virus I previously knew nothing about. Second, I found a 39 percent gap in infection rate reports to be inconsistent.

Not being a doctor, I asked a good friend who is a doctor about this. He told me that this virus is indeed widespread (basically everyone age 40 or older is at least a carrier of the virus). What?!?

My friend went on to explain that the virus doesn’t generally produce symptoms in children or adults unless the patient is has an immune compromised system already (HIV infected, organ transplant recipients and elderly patients).

While rare, the condition can be life-threatening but generally only for the above mentioned group and in about one percent of babies it can result in certain birth defects.

OK, I can live with that (no pun intended).

Recent studies however have shown that there is indeed a link between CMV virus and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). This in turn can lead to high blood pressure on its own but is even more likely when combined with a high cholesterol diet.

This is most common in patients over the age of 80 but even though less common, can affect younger patients as well. Left untreated, high blood pressure (HBP) can affect all of the major organs and can cause heart attack, stroke and blindness.

This opens new doors as far as preventative medicine is concerned. New research has lead many experts to consider vaccines as an option when looking at high blood pressure patients.

So what can I do today to protect myself for tomorrow? Diet and exercise are chief ways to reduce or eliminate HBP. Prescription medicine is also an option but at the risk of sounding like a broken record…ALL of these medicines have side effects, many of them serious.

I recommend my all natural High Blood Pressure program. The relaxation and breathing exercises are easy to do and the results are amazing, both short and long term!

EL331002

00A client recently wrote to me asking if there was a link to hot climates and an increase in blood pressure. My first thought was, “no,” as an increase in blood pressure among different countries is typically always related to diet and exercise level.

A couple of recent studies, however, determined that blood pressure in elderly patients already suffering from high blood pressure (hypertension) was actually significantly lowered when exposed to hotter climates than normal but only during daytime hours.

In the evenings, however, the systolic number (top number) actually increased significantly. I assumed that this is because the subjects were in air conditioned environments at night. This was not the case so temperature did not seem to play a role.

Patients who did not suffer from high blood pressure were not affected either way by the daytime increase in temperature.

Another study showed a slight increase in blood pressure when subjected to colder temperatures however, the subjects were able to acclimate relatively easily and blood pressure returned to original levels.

Additionally, rates of strokes and heart attacks do not decrease during summer months. This could be for two reasons. First, experts have found that people tend to decrease their blood pressure medication during the summer months.

Second, overwhelming evidence indicates that over time, people adapt to their surroundings and blood pressure is not an exception.

Several of my clients, however, commented that they used an ambulatory blood pressure cuff (these can be purchased at any pharmacy) and recorded the time of day and outside temperature. During summer months the daytime readings did in fact go down.

Upon closer scrutiny, though, I found that most of my clients doing this were also much more active during the summer daylight hours. I won’t name names but many of these same clients also told me they simply stopped taking their blood pressure medicine when their numbers started to go down.

You all know that I do not believe in taking medicine to control a health issue when a natural cure can be found. That said, I DO NOT believe in simply stopping any prescription medicine without first discussing it with one’s doctor.

These medicines are powerful and have serious side effects when taken as prescribed. Taking too much or stopping all at once can have devastating effects. If you truly want to get off the medicine, discuss weaning yourself off the medicine with your doctor first.

Don’t be surprised if your doctor is highly skeptical of doing this. Remember, there was a reason your doctor prescribed the medication in the first place. Left untreated, high blood pressure can damage all of the major organs, eyes and other tissues, which can in turn lead to stroke, heart attack, blindness and other ill health effects.

If you are looking for a natural solution to your hypertension, I highly recommend my High Blood Pressure program. It’s all natural and easy to do. Once your high blood pressure lowers, you can bring this evidence to your doctor and he/she will have to acknowledge that a natural solution works!

EL331002