Recent research shows us that medication for high blood pressure is not that beneficial as we used to think.  While it may save some lives, it can destroy some other functions of our body — causing mental decline.  The alternative?  Finding the root cause of the high blood pressure.  Read more to find out how.
High blood pressure significantly increases the risks for heart disease and stroke.  It is a serious condition that shouldn?t be overlooked.  With no obvious symptoms or signs, it is considered a silent killer.  1 in every 3 Americans have issues with high blood pressure, affecting a third of our nation [1].  However, using conventional medication to treat the issue might be a not the best path to take.  A recent study has shown us that taking blood pressure medication can lead to severe mental decline [2].  
 
The study observed patients over 70 years old who were previously diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment.  The patients who took antihypertensive drugs to lower their daytime systolic blood pressure saw mental decline the fastest and most severely.  On the other hand, the patients who had an average or seemingly high blood pressure were more mentally capable for the nearly four year study. 
 
You may be thinking, wait a minute, the medicine for high blood pressure is causing the mind to go?  Why doesn?t the patient just get off the medication and try something else?  Here?s why.  Medications often alter your body to become dependent.  For instance, HCTZ (hydrochlorothiazide) is a water pill.  It is designed to keep you from having too much salt, but it also removes potassium.  Potassium is inside the cells, sodium is outside of the cells; both are positively charged.  You need more sodium to make up for the loss of potassium, and then you need more HCTZ to get rid of the excess sodium.  The more sodium you get — the higher your blood pressure is.  Hence you need more water pill — hydrochlorothiazide!
 
Similarly, what happens if someone takes another water pill for high blood pressure?  It also may remove the potassium.  The only thing to replace it is more sodium.  More sodium causes increased osmolarity inside the cells, leading to cell swelling which leads to blood pressure elevation.  Thus, it is extremely difficult for the patient to safely discontinue use of the medication (even though they may also be experiencing mental decline).  It?s like drinking from a leaking cup?no matter how often or how vigorously you fill up the cup, you will always be thirsty. 
 
This cyclical pill-popping happens more often than one would think, where the pills are necessary for the condition, but when the condition gets better the body still needs the pills.  For example, I knew a woman who had an epileptic dog.  One day, she told me her dog was doing much better.  No more seizures!  When I asked her why, she said she had quit giving her dog the anti-seizure medication and he stopped seizing.  She thought that the medication was bringing about the very condition it claimed to fix. Do many medications seem to do the same?  Do depression medications still work when the person is not depressed?  Are anxiety pills effective when there?s no anxiety?  Would sleeping prescriptions be necessary when the person is naturally getting good sleep?  Basically if the blood pressure medicine isn?t going to entirely fix the problem and may cause mental decline in the process, shouldn?t we look for another ways to bring your blood pressure down? I am not suggesting that you stop taking your antihypertensive pills.  Blood pressure should be under control all the time.  High blood pressure if not controlled can cause a heart attack or a stroke within minutes.  Consult your doctor before making any health decisions.
 
But there?s one more issue.  The overall cause of high blood pressure has not been decided on in conventional medicine.  So if there?s no cause, can there be an alternative to dangerous medication?  In fact many doctors believe that here are the three major causes of high blood pressure:
 
Too much weight on the body
Too much salt in the diet
Too many toxins like mercury
 
Using these as clues, we have a starting point to seek out natural ways to level out high blood pressure.  The most important step is to thoroughly examine the patient?s lifestyle and body to confirm the main cause of the issue.  However, fixing this without medicine may take some life changes?it may not be as easy as popping in a pill every day.  Once you find a physician you can trust to take your health seriously, he or she may help you lose serious weight with a healthy food plan, eat salt free for about five years (some medication can even add to your body?s salt level), or to find and fight the toxins in your life from tests and detoxifications. 
 
If you struggle with high blood pressure, here are the areas you may want to talk to your physician about:
 
A healthy diet, with no salt
A potential weight loss plan
A test for toxicity
A plan for quitting smoking or drinking
A regular blood pressure checkup 
 
Though simple, these natural changes could be the difference between life and death.
High blood pressure is no condition to wait around for, especially since a third of the country already struggles with it.  If you have further questions about high blood pressure or finding the root cause, call us today.  Can?t we together achieve wellness and  forget about the illness?
 
http://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/faqs.htm  
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2173093