Recently while watching television, I was captivated by a commercial for a medication being advertised for the control of high blood pressure. In that rapid fire, T.V. announcer voice that we’ve all heard, I was able to pick out words like “symptoms of Asthma, skin rash, dry, hacking cough, and loss of taste.” As the announcer continued, the problems grew worse to include “swollen ankles, headaches, constipation, and dizziness.”
By this time they had my total attention…..” sudden loss of blood pressure, kidney damage, fever and possibly the worst possible side effect, impotence”. The list seemed endless with each possible effect growing worse than the others.
I heard something mentioned about those with diabetes, pregnant women and then they wrapped things up very neatly by advising that there were “practical ways to help you cope.”
I’m sorry, that was the last straw. I simply cannot think of a practical way to ‘cope’ with kidney damage. I began to hear the two words ‘pregnant women’ ringing in my ears and began to wonder just what additional issues are to be considered when speaking of a child still in the womb.
Now let me say that there is no question that many of the drugs that lower blood pressure have been proven to be quite effective. And it’s certain that many people have been helped by the results of lowered blood pressure. But maybe there is more to be considered than just the effectiveness.
Some of the most common high blood pressure medicines are diuretics. Hypertension medications such as diuretics flush the body of salts by creating a demand for frequent urination. Along with the flushing of excess salts comes the rapid loss of potassium in some.
For others, particularly diabetics, diuretic drugs may force an increase of the blood sugar level. At this point additional drugs are required to add potassium to the body or to counter act the effects on the blood sugar level.
Now the patient that walked in with high blood pressure walks out with high blood pressure AND a potassium deficiency AND elevated blood sugar and who knows what else.
In additional research into hypertension medications, I learned that there are also beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, Central agonists, Peripheral adrenergic inhibitors, and blood vessel dilators.
The list of side effects from these various medications is virtually endless. Each one appears darker and more frightening that the one before it.
It was at this point in my thought process that I began to realize that preventing high blood pressure would have to be the easiest solution by far. Loss of weight, reduction of stress, walking to the moon and back.… whatever it takes, there is nothing in terms of a preventative measure that would be tougher to ‘cope’ with than kidney damage or impotence.
Perhaps the television commercial did provide the exact remedy that I needed. I sat dazed in my chair for a few brief moments absorbing everything I’d just heard then I hesitantly put down my oversized bowl of popcorn, got out of my recliner, dusted off my sneakers and took a long, refreshing walk in the crisp night air while wondering just how far it actually is to the moon.
Adding my hypertension program will help reduce the problems of high blood pressure even faster. A few simple exercises that take only minutes to learn and perform can make drastic results in your blood pressure numbers!
