Richard D. More, M.D., Ph.D., writing in his book The High Blood Pressure Solution, notes that in some studies, weight loss in the obese led to normal blood pressure in three out of four people, and that no drugs were used. Exercise alone, with no weight loss, also affects blood pressure. Moore again reports that in one program 105 hypertensive patients undertook a walking program, starting with walking one mile and working up to running two miles. One-hundred and one of the 105 patients had significant drops in blood pressure, and 50 percent of those who had been using antihypertensive therapy were able to discontinue their drug use. A lifestyle that includes diet, judicious supplementation, and exercise.
Blood pressure is a measure of the force of blood against the walls of the arteries.
The top number, systolic, measures blood pressure when the heart is pumping out blood. The bottom number, diastolic, measures blood pressure between heartbeats, that is, when the heart is not pumping, but at rest. The usual cause of high blood pressure is a persistent increase in resistance to blood flow through the smaller branches of the arteries, which carry blood from the heart throughout the body. Why this happens is unknown 95 percent of the time. This information has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.