Soy Milk Lowers Blood Pressure in Mild to Moderate Hypertension
Soy milk is such an easy thing to add into a healthy lifestyle. It’s nice to see a study on the food as opposed to extracts.
Nutrition.org — Abstracts: Rivas et al. 132 (7): 1900
Hypertension
CRH Stimulation Test in White Coat Hypertension – (08-22-02)
CRH Stimulation Test in White Coat Hypertension
Recall that the adrenal axis is the route by which the body responds to stress. Epinephrine can raise blood pressure. Here we see that white coat hypertension may be due to hypersensitivity of this system. Overreaction can be modified in several ways, including exercise, adaptogenic herbs such as ginseng and B vitamin support (primarily B5). Unfortunately, this approach is usually outside of the “box” for many doctors encountering white coat hypertension.
JCEM — Abstracts: Tabeta et al. 87 (8): 3672
Ambulatory blood pressure and brain atrophy in the healthy elderly -(09-19-02)
Ambulatory blood pressure and brain atrophy in the healthy elderly
I have many elderly patients coming into my office on antihypertensive drugs. It is not unusual to find many with “controlled” BP over 150 systolic. Their doctors seem okay with this number and yet it has always worried me. Now my worries appear to have been vindicated. In this study we see shrinking of the brain in patients with even high-normal blood pressures. Searching my website will demonstrate many natural methods of lowering blood pressure safely. None of these methods provide substantial results (with the exception of water-only fasting, the results of which are just short of incredible); however, when combined can have a additive effect. Principle among the approaches is control of hyperinsulinemia. Elevated insulin appears to reduce the elasticity of the vessel walls leading the hypertension.
Neurology — Abstracts: Goldstein et al. 59 (5): 713
NSAIDs and Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn – (04-16-01)
NSAIDs and Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn
This article points out yet another side effect of NSAIDs; potentially damaging effects on the fetus. It never ceases to amaze me that so many patients consider chiropractic dangerous and yet can not put NSAID use into perspective. This effect on the fetus is new to me, but does not surprise me. Add it to the list of kidney, liver, articular and GI damage.
Pediatrics — Abstracts: Alano et al. 107 (3): 519
Bone mineral density in women with essential hypertension – (08-13-01)
Bone mineral density in women with essential hypertension
This is an interesting insight on the authors’ part. Article looks at the relationship of calcium balance in the body (as measured by bone density) to high blood pressure and found that women with high blood pressure had lower bone density. Knowing that increasing evidence supports the role of hyperinsulinemia in “essentil” hypertension, it may be that the mechanism that is responsible for decreased bone density is also the altered insulin sensitivity.
Fermented milk high in bioactive peptides has BP lowering effect in hypertension – (01-27-03)
Fermented milk high in bioactive peptides has BP lowering effect in hypertension
This article evaluated milk fermented with Lactobacillus and found that it lowered blood pressure in 21 weeks. Now, I’m not convinced that it was bioactive compounds in the milk that produced the results–supplementation of probiotics can lead to many positive health effects that could very well lead to mild lowering of BP.
AJCN — Abstracts: Seppo et al. 77 (2): 326 –
Frequency of Analgesic Use & Risk of Hypertension in Younger Women – (10-31-02)
Frequency of Analgesic Use & Risk of Hypertension in Younger Women
There are two things that strike me about this study. First, of the 80,000 or so women in this study, use of aspirin 1 day/month was 51%, NSAIDs was 77% and acetaminophen was 72%. My gosh!! Are we that addicted to OTC pain relief? No wonder this class of drugs (NSAIDs) are responsible for 16,000+ deaths per year. We are taking them like candy, never considering the litany of adverse reactions and long term damage these things can cause. Secondly, in this study NSAID users (22 days/month) had 1.86 times the risk and acetaminophen had twice the risk of high blood pressure. While this use (as 22 days/month) seems incredibly excessive to me, it is a well known fact that these drugs damage the kidneys and this may be one of the mechanisms by which hypertension in affected.
Age-specific relevance of usual blood pressure to vascular mortality – (12-19-02)
Age-specific relevance of usual blood pressure to vascular mortality
An article like this can be a major eye-opener for many clinicians. I see many patients with “treated” hypertension in the area of 150 systolic. This has always bothered me, but pharmaceutical intervention does have its limits.
This study finds that BP above 115 have a positive correlation with CVD and all cause mortality. This would suggest that much more effective approaches to HTN are needed and I would think this opens up the realm for alternative approaches, top of which is water only fasting (search previous updates), followed by exercise, dietary modification, magnesium, etc…