High Blood pressure

barber1982

My mum has just been diagnosed with HPB. It there anything that anyone takes to reduce it?

Ted_Hutchinson

Lloydspharmacy blood pressure monitor offer £9.99 is still ongoing. It would be worth having one of these as it enables you to check if the measures she is taking are working or not.

bpassoc has lots of excellent advice and if you follow the links there's a downloadable excell spreadsheet that allows you to record your BP readings and turn them into graphs to make it easy to see if they are moving in the right direction over time.

Vitamin D and blood pressure research That site also has links to the cheapest source of high strength Vitamin D. This time of year 90% of the UK population have insufficient Vit d. raising Vit d with an effective dose level lowers blood pressure.

Edit following Mr Rush's comment Plasma 25(OH)D levels are inversely associated with risk of incident hypertension. and perhaps Mr_Rush will explain why blood pressure is often elevated during the winter season, further distance from the equator, and dark skin pigmentation (all of which are associated with lower exposure to vitamin D via sunlight).
Perhaps Mr_Rush is unaware of the study, when patients are treated with ultraviolet light three times a week for six weeks, they increased vitamin d status by 162% and simultaneously their blood pressure fell significantly. Small amounts of oral vitamin D (cholecalciferol 800 IU) for eight weeks have also resulted in a reduction in both blood pressure and heart rate. There is epidemiological evidence to suggest a relationship between calcium deficiency and hypertension. The observation that a physiologic amount of active vitamin D has blood pressure lowering (hypotensive) effects is consistent with this concept and suggests a role for vitamin D in lowering blood pressure.

Flaxseed/linseed also helps. See thread Flaxseed Wow

See also dietary advice here Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Magnesium is vital for over 300 different reactions in the body and often by overuse of colas or inadequate intake of fruit and veg in short supply. There is evidence that improving magnesium supply will lower blood pressure.

Similarly there is evidence that Dairy Produce improves folate uptake and this also will reduce blood pressure.

Should also mention that common painkillers, ibuprofen, asprin etc raise blood pressure so if she's in the habit of taking these regularly then cutting down on them will help reduce the HBP.

Pomegranate juice consumption inhibits serum angiotensin converting enzyme activity and reduces systolic blood pressure.

Tea Drinkers Reap Blood Pressure Benefits remember that Green Tea (without milk) is often drunk in china.

Dark Chocolate and Red Wine are also blood pressure lowering.
These suggestions are as well as and not alternative to the exercise and diet suggestions from BPASSOC from the second link provided above.

ariba10

barber1982 wrote: »

My mum has just been diagnosed with HPB. It there anything that anyone takes to reduce it?

Regular exercise and a good diet is about the quickest and easiest way to go.

Robothell

ariba10 wrote: »

Regular exercise and a good diet is about the quickest and easiest way to go.

In addition, stop smoking and reduce alcohol intake (ideally none at all). Also, be wary of using over-the-counter remedies and complimentary therapies if the GP has prescribed any tablets - the tablets will lower the blood pressure in the vast majority of people and if other things are taken on top of this the blood pressure can dip to the lower end and cause dizziness and faints. Always tell your GP/doctor if you are taking supplements etc over the counter as it can influence their choice of therapies.

K9cuddles

barber1982 wrote: »

My mum has just been diagnosed with HPB. It there anything that anyone takes to reduce it?

Hi, I've been diagnosed with the same and I'm only 25 :eek: Is she on any medication? I had a blood test which normally checks yours cholestrol levels given more idea what is causing it. For my age my BP is high but my cholestrol is low so I've been refered to get my kidneys checked (will waiting 4 weeks on :rolleyes: ).

Anyways.. I started taking omega 3 (6&9 - from boots) I've got my medication plus I exercise 3 times a week, I don't drink or smoke but like my chocolate biscuits!

I think her doctors needs to find the root of what's causing it then you know what to do to improve it. I bought the £9.99 Lloyds BP meter and it's a super bit of kit for the money!

mr_rush

please ignore the vitamin D nonsense - there is a reason why the British Hypertension Society do not have anything to do with vitamin D in their anti-hypertension guidelines - because of the lack of evidence.

High BP is very common. Usually the management protocol is measurement on 3 occasions then if still high the modification of lifestyle factors (smoking, salt intake, exercise), then a variety of meds.

colchambers

Hi, sorry to hear you have high blood pressure. There is plenty you can do to get it down though. High blood pressure is generally related to your heart having trouble pushing blood around your body. Often the blood vessels aren't as loose and flexible as they used to be so the heart has to pump harder. So the best way to counteract this is to look at things that can make your blood vessels loose again.

High amounts of salt can increase blood pressure this way. So reducing salt in your diet can help. Salt is so important for making food taste nice that the way I go about this is either to
have gravy with my meals to enhance the flavour, use sea salt as it is stronger than table salt with less sodium (the bad stuff) per gram. I also found a product called herbamare which contains sea salt instead of standard salt and uses herbs to add flavour. Oh you've got me talking now. I just remembered another thing I do a lot more now is to either rub or sprinkle vegetable stock powder onto food either before, during or after cooking. For example rubbing some stock powder into a fillet of salmon before cooking on the oven for 8 minutes is all it takes to make it taste fabulous. I find adding stock powder cheaper than herbamare so that is my preferred option.

Also with exercise I know a lot of people who are put off even by the word because we are all used to thinking of it as going to the gym, getting sweaty and running for no real reason but to burn calories. The truth is that exercise is anything that gets you moving your body for a significant amount of time. The most important thing is that you enjoy it because if you do then you will want to do it. That is crucial when you are tired, have had a crappy day and just can't be bothered. My favourite is tennis, but that's too energetic for a lot of people. Then again I love walking, playing football, cycling or gardening. My wife doesn't class herself as an exercise kind of person but loves dancing and swimming. Just think about what things you like to do that involve movement and find nice places to do it and if necessary good people to exercise with. Focus on moving your whole body around (walking, climbing, swimming as opposed to sit ups, pressups and other things when only a few muscles are working) as the act of shifting your own weight when done regularly has a massive effect on blood pressure. But always remember it's what you do every day not once in a while that matters most. That's why you should focus on things you enjoy because then you will stick to them.

One final thing is to try and look for areas in your life where you can be a little more active than you are. Some people have parked their car 5 minutes from their office instead of right outside. It gives them a short walk before and after work which surprisingly for them has helped them forget their worries better than most things and also provides a little exercise which mounts up to a lot over the weeks and months.:hello:

calleyw

It is all very well saying take exercise for people with high BP.

My husband had a stroke last september and since about christmas has had high BP.

He can't walk to far and gyms are out. He is on medication but a the moment apart from watching his food intake there is not much more we can do.

Yours


Calley

kickstart_3

The best thing she can do is go to her doctor and find the CAUSE. Its no good trying all sorts of home remedies till she knows what is causing it . I have high blood pressure and without wanting to sound to dramatic..kidney failure. Nothing to do with diet, salt,exercise or drink! So please get her to see her GP , if it is that high he will give her tablets to help bring it down.

Savvy_Sue

kickstart wrote: »

The best thing she can do is go to her doctor and find the CAUSE. Its no good trying all sorts of home remedies till she knows what is causing it . I have high blood pressure and without wanting to sound to dramatic..kidney failure. Nothing to do with diet, salt,exercise or drink! So please get her to see her GP , if it is that high he will give her tablets to help bring it down.

Alas, when my high BP was causing concern prior to an operation, no-one gave a hoot about the cause, which I couldn't help thinking might just have been stress! You're fortunate to have a GP who will work with you to identify cause and work out non-drug strategies for reducing it rather than throwing drugs at the problem.

Calley, I hope you and your husband have been given some advice about when and how your husband can increase his exercise regime - even if it's 'only' walking which can be excellent exercise.

pink123_2

sorry to hear about you mum. Weightloss may be extremely beneficial in lowering bp especially as she is newly diognised. Also, I would recommed that she makes sure that she has a blood sugar test for type 2 diabetes as they tend to go hand in hand!