prehypertension identified

[Guest guest]

A recent press release has documented the fact that the medical community

has released new guidelines for high blood pressure. Bottom line is many

people are at risk due to increased blood pressure that thought they were

within acceptable ranges previously...

Besides the recommendations given in the article to normalize B.P.:

One of the benefits of increasing Nitric Oxide levels is a relaxation of

blood vessels which can obviously decrease blood pressure...

Elevated HGH causes blood pressure and cholesterol levels to improve due

to changes in tissue and artey wall resilience. Flexibility can also be

improved with MSM and with omega-3 EFA's in small doses.

Reducing stress hormones and other toxins is a good idea.

Attending to vitamin b and mineral intake will both help too.

Duncan Crow

_____________________________________________________

May 14, 2003 -- Nearly one in four adults in the U.S. who once thought

they had normal blood pressure levels are now considered part of a new

risk group category called " prehypertension, " according to new federal

high blood pressure guidelines announced today.

The new prehypertension category includes about 45 million men and women

who have a systolic blood pressure (the top number) between 120 to 139 mm

Hg or a diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 80 to 89 mm Hg.

Although officials do not recommend that people who fit into this

prehypertension category start taking blood pressure-lowering drugs, they

do call for these people to make heart-healthy lifestyle changes to

reduce their risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, and other

complications.

The new recommendations also call for wider use of diuretics ( " water

pills " ) for people with high blood pressure -- blood pressure levels

above 140/90 mm Hg. They also recommend combination treatment using more

than one blood pressure drug for people with severe high blood pressure --

blood pressure of 160/100 or higher.

It's the first major revision of national blood pressure guidelines since

1997. The new guidelines will also appear in the May 21 issue of the The

Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers say the revisions were necessary because recent studies have

shown that by age 55, men and women who don't already have high blood

pressure have a 90% chance of developing it later.

" In addition, we have found that damage to arteries begins at fairly low

blood pressure levels --levels which were previously considered

'normal,' " says Aram Chobanian, MD, chair of the Joint National Committee

on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood

Pressure, which compiled the report.

Chobanian says research has shown that the risk of death due to heart

attack and stroke increases rapidly with rising blood pressure levels,

starting at levels as low as 115/75 mm Hg. For every 20/10 mm Hg rise in

blood pressure above this level, the risk of death from heart problems

doubles.

That's why the report recommends people who fall into the new

prehypertensive category make healthy lifestyle changes to lower their

blood pressure and prevent the development of high blood pressure. Those

steps include:

Losing weight if you are overweight

Getting regular exercise

Adopting the DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) eating plan

that emphasizes a low-fat and low-salt diet rich in fruits and vegetables

Cutting back on salt

Limiting alcohol consumption

Quitting smoking

" The implications and potential benefits of such healthier lifestyles

could be great, particularly since about 22% of the adult population

falls into the prehypertensive category, " says Chobanian, who is also

dean of the Boston University School of Medicine. " In fact, the blood

pressure effects of weight reduction or adoption of the DASH eating plan

can be comparable to those achieved with any single blood pressure

medication. "

According to a national survey, only 70% of Americans are aware that they

have high blood pressure, only 59% are currently being treated for it,

and only 34% have their high blood pressure under control.

A recent study compared diuretics with other types of blood pressure-

lowering medications and found the diuretics were just as effective as

the newer drugs in preventing heart attack or death due to heart disease.

The new guidelines say these inexpensive drugs should be used as first-

line treatment for most people who have high blood pressure without other

risk factors such as heart failure, history of heart attack, diabetes, or

kidney disease.

Although the guidelines do not change the traditional definition of high

blood pressure, they do call for more aggressive treatment of the

condition through the use of a combination of blood-pressure lowering

medications. In fact, they say that most people with high blood pressure

will require two or more drugs to achieve a blood pressure goal of less

than 140/90. The blood pressure goal in people with diabetes or kidney

disease should be less than 130/80.

But not all blood pressure specialists completely agree with using

combination treatment right off the bat.

" I think the goal of all treatment is to get the right drug for each

person and get them on [one drug], " says Laragh, MD, of the

Cardiovascular Hypertension Center at New York Hospital/Cornell

University Medical Center. " The more drugs you take, the more side

effects, the more cost, and the more nuisance. "

Laragh says diuretics, which work by increasing urine production, are

only effective in treating people who have salt-sensitive forms of high

blood pressure. He says if this type of drug does not produce results

initially, other blood pressure-lowering medications should be tried

rather than just adding on additional drugs.

" I do believe it is possible to find the right drug for many patients, "

Laragh tells WebMD. " By trial and error, just giving one drug at a time

and testing it, you'll screen out some people who aren't salt-sensitive. "

But federal officials say that regardless of the means, the main goal of

the new guidelines is to help more people get their blood pressure under

control by creating a treatment strategy with their doctor.

" The recommendations are neither a policy nor a prescription for

physicians, "

says Claude Lenfant, MD, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood

Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. " Nobody is

advocating

some sort of cookbook medicine. The physician will have to decide whether

this

medication or that medication is the best depending on many

considerations. "