From: tarl@sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
Subject: Re: How Serious is High Blood Pressure?
Date: 23 Jan 1993 19:56:31 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: coyoacan.sw.stratus.com

Serious. Arterial sclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is the primary
result; this shows up in kidney damage, heart disease, and anuerysisms
(blood vessel failures - balloon effect). Damage is cumulative. Some
other effects are retina damage and increased risk of strokes. Basically,
it makes you die sooner - Call the American Heart Association to get more
information on why it's called "the silent killer".

I emailed a somewhat more detailed reply to the poster, but some
comments for the general group - There are a number of approaches
to lowering blood pressure, and it's probably worth trying a number
of them (in my experience, they are *all* unpleasant). The one
absolute key is whether the treatment _WORKS_, and you have to monitor
the results continually to determine this. If a treatment doesn't work,
don't kid yourself, try something else. A health professional can tell
you how long to wait before giving up on a treatment.

My main suggestion for someone who has high blood pressure, is to
buy a home blood pressure monitor. You can find them in department
stores (around here, at Lechmere's), for between $30 and $100,
depending on how fancy you get. Tests that I have seen indicate
the finger-cuff models are inaccurate, so I'd recommend an arm-cuff
model. I personally recommend an electronic model which will do the
reading for you, but one you inflate yourself.

Once you get the blood-pressure monitor, you should calibrate it. Get
a health professional to take your pressure normally, and take it
yourself with your own monitor. If the pressures are significantly
different, you are using it incorrectly or it is defective.

Check your blood pressure every few days, at different times of day. This
will give you an idea of what your blood pressure is under normal
conditions. Your blood pressure can go up under different circumstances,
giving unfairly high readings at times (mine would go up before donating
blood, resulting in the red cross turning me down about half the time).
But don't just assume this is the case - if you ever get an indication
of high blood pressure, monitor it.

As for the treatment - Lifestyle changes can make a difference, but they
take time. If your blood pressure is severe (xxx/110 as mentioned by the
original poster), you probably can't afford to wait for such to take
effect, and should start medication while changing your lifestyle.
Lifestyle aspects which can affect blood pressure:
	- smoking (quitting can help a lot)
	- alcohol consumption
	- weight (being overweight increases b.p.)
	- stress (relaxation exercises can help)
	- diet (lowering salt and fat intake can help)
	- fitness (aerobic exercise can help)
Again, these are changes which can help some people. The key is whether
it works for you - all the lifestyle changes in the world won't help if
your blood pressure stays high.

The various medications available for treating hypertension tend to
be classified as Diuretics (make you urinate more, long list of side
effects), sympathetic depressants (equally long list of side effects,
starting with drowsiness), and vasodilators (act directly on the blood
vessels, side effects include headaches, psychosis and lupus-like symptoms).
The above side-effects will vary from person to person, and you need to
find a drug or combination which both works and has few enough or mild
enough side-effects for you to live with.

In my case, my blood pressure was 160/95, sometimes going as high as 180/105.
After several years of lifestyle changes (diet changes, weight loss, 
relaxation exercises, ect), it's now down to 135/85. Higher than desired,
but low enough to not need medication. However, it;s something that I have
to monitor for the rest of my life, and there is a good chance that a few
decades down the road I'll need medication.
-- 
         Tarl Neustaedter	tarl@sw.stratus.com
         Marlboro, Mass.	Stratus Computer
Disclaimer: My employer is not responsible for my opinions.
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative