{"id":5044,"date":"2021-12-19T13:23:48","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T13:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=5044"},"modified":"2021-12-19T13:23:49","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T13:23:49","slug":"treat-high-blood-pressure-with-lifestyle-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/?p=5044","title":{"rendered":"Treat High Blood Pressure with Lifestyle Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Very aggressive control of high blood pressure helps to prevent heart attacks, strokes and premature death far more effectively than less stringent control (N Engl J Med<\/em>, 2021 May 20;384(20):1921-1930). You cannot cure high blood pressure with drugs, you can only control it as long as you continue to take the drugs (Hypertension<\/em>, 2002;40(5):612-618). Most of the time, your blood pressure cannot be controlled with just one drug and most people end up with three or more drugs to treat their high blood pressure. On the other hand, some people are able to cure their high blood pressure just by making lifestyle changes.<\/p>\n

High blood pressure is defined as systolic blood pressure greater than 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure greater than 80 mmHg, and about half of North American adults have high blood pressure. The blockbuster SPRINT study of almost 10,000 people showed that systolic blood pressure above 130 increases risk for death (N Engl J Med<\/em>, Nov 26, 2015;373:2103-2116). High blood pressure causes heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease and puts you at increased risk for developing dementia in later life. High blood pressure can be intimately associated with high blood sugar levels after meals, and high blood pressure is one of the criteria for diagnosing diabetes.<\/p>\n

Resistant Hypertension Responds to Lifestyle Changes<\/strong>
\nThe recently published TRIUMPH Study found that lifestyle changes help to control high blood pressure even in those with resistant hypertension (Circulation<\/em>, Sep 27, 2021;144(15):1212\u20131226). Resistant hypertension means that you have high blood pressure that does not respond to three or more drugs to lower high blood pressure (Heart<\/em>, 2019;105:98\u2013105; Hypertension<\/em>, 2018; 72:e53\u2013e90). People with resistant hypertension were able to lower their high blood pressure (BP) just by starting a regular exercise program (JAMA Cardiol<\/em>, Aug 2021;6(11):1317-1323). In this study, men and women with resistant hypertension, average age 60, who followed a 12-week program of three 40-minute supervised aerobic exercise sessions per week lowered:
\n\u2022 24-hour systolic BP by 7.1 mmHg
\n\u2022 diastolic BP 5.1 mmHg
\n\u2022 daytime systolic BP 8.4 mmHg
\n\u2022 daytime diastolic BP 5.7 mmHg
\n\u2022 doctor’s office systolic BP 10.0 mmHg<\/p>\n

Other lifestyle changes to treat high blood pressure include:
\n\u2022 Eating a plant-based diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and other seeds.
\n\u2022 Restricting sugared drinks, sugar-added foods and red meat.
\n\u2022 Restricting refined carbohydrates<\/a>.
\n\u2022 Avoiding smoking. Smoking damages every cell in your body.
\n\u2022 Avoiding being overweight.<\/p>\n

Recent Studies on Blood Pressure<\/strong>
\nIn 2021 alone, I have reported on several new studies on high blood pressure and the importance of lifestyle changes. Please reread them and make the necessary changes in your habits that apply to you. If you are not able to control your blood pressure with these lifestyle changes, work with your doctor to add medications as needed to bring it below 120\/80 mmHg. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of this: high blood pressure is a silent killer.
\nHigh-Plant, Low-Salt Diet to Lower Blood Pressure<\/a>
\nHigh Blood Pressure Increases Risk for Dementia<\/a>
\nMany Common Drugs Can Raise Blood Pressure<\/a>
\nLess Salt, More Potassium to Help Prevent Heart Attacks<\/a>
\nHow Your Diet Affects Your Blood Pressure<\/a>
\nBlood Pressure is Often Higher in Wintertime<\/a><\/p>\n

My Recommendations<\/strong>
\nAll people who have blood pressures above 130\/80 should immediately adopt lifestyle habits that can lower it, and check with their doctor about proper medications if needed. Anyone who is prone to high blood pressure should commit to lifelong habits to control it. Many cases of high blood pressure can be controlled with a high-plant, low-salt diet and other lifestyle changes that include:
\n\u2022 trying to exercise every day<\/a>
\n\u2022 maintaining a healthful weight
\n\u2022 avoiding alcohol<\/a>
\n\u2022 avoiding smoking and second hand smoke
\n\u2022 keeping blood levels of hydroxy vitamin D above 30 ng\/mL
\nSee Check Your Own Blood Pressure<\/a><\/p>\n

Caution:<\/em><\/strong> Exercise can cause heart attacks in people who already have blocked arteries. Check with your doctor before starting an exercise program or increasing the intensity of your existing program.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Very aggressive control of high blood pressure helps to prevent heart attacks, strokes and premature death far more effectively than less stringent control. You cannot cure high blood pressure with drugs, you can only control it as long as you continue to take the drugs. Most of the time, your blood pressure cannot be controlled with just one drug and most people end up with three or more drugs to treat their high blood pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[484,485,207,486],"class_list":["post-5044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heart","tag-blood-pressure","tag-diastolic","tag-high-blood-pressure","tag-systolic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/drmirkin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}