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Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

11–20 of 64 posts

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#12

The science is settled, pharmaceuticals are the only way.

I'm pretty sure this comment is sarcasm, but regardless, it should be pretty obvious that diet and exercise adjustment will fix hypertension in most (not all!) cases, but that:

* Lots of people aren't prepared to make the level of change required and so medication can be a better option; and

* Medication will probably reduce risk a lot faster than lifestyle adjustment if things are already dire.

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#13

The science is settled, pharmaceuticals are the only way.

Is this a sincere comment, or is there sarcasm that I am missing? I went from consistently-slightly-high to consistently-low BP by losing a little (~5% bf) weight and biking.

No post body was provided.

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#15
post #6

Just give people magnesium, it's incredibly effective and deficiency is very common (big part of it is because of soil mineral depletion). In fact, a lot of hypertension is just magnesium deficiency.

Do you have any further reading regarding this position?

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#16

The science is settled, pharmaceuticals are the only way.

canned 'This message brought to you, in part, by Pfizer'

honestly I don't think there's much money to be made out of those drugs.

I'm on drugs for hypertension and they cost me less than 10 euros a month and that's if I go buy them at the pharmacy, if my doctor makes me a prescription they are free for me and I'm sure the government pay them a lot less than a private citizen.

They also fall into the category of generic drugs, most of the time they are manufactured in my country by Italian companies.

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#17
No, it is not time.

> Dr. Houston also cautioned that the role of supplements in hypertension has not yet been tested in clinical outcomes trials in the manner that conventional drugs have been assessed.

It will be time after those studies have materialized and superiority to drugs is proven.

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#18

The science is settled, pharmaceuticals are the only way.

canned 'This message brought to you, in part, by Pfizer'

Just because something is done by a corporation does not in fact make it bad.

Diet and exercise can help, but they take time (serious time for some people) and are expensive. As part of dealing with blood pressure, I switched to cooking my own meals (the salt and cholesterol levels in all restaraunt or ready-to-go meals, not just fast food, are horrifying) but that's a significant time investment and generally just as or more expensive than fast food. I can afford to do that, but someone working two minimum wage jobs just to pay the rent likely can't. Similarly, it's possible for some people with the luxury of working from home and enough income to afford a space with exercise equipment to hop on an exercise bike for one of their many pointless 30 minute meetings each day, but someone who has to live outside the city and commute a few hours in will have much more trouble with that.

Drugs work and work fast. My BP was in the 150/100 range and meds brought it down to 115/80 within a week or two. I've been dropping weight and with any luck in the future could go off the meds if I'm able to hold at a lower level, but that requires constant maintenance. They're a great option for many people.

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#19
I didn’t read the article. But it is mostly accepted science that eating healthy can reduce hypertension in most people.

It’s also well known that most people won’t stick to the type of diet needed. So it still leads to the fact that drugs are the most effective treatment. It’s not like Big Pharma is getting rich off of water pills that went generic years ago and even without insurance are relatively cheap .

Re: Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)

#20
post #6

Just give people magnesium, it's incredibly effective and deficiency is very common (big part of it is because of soil mineral depletion). In fact, a lot of hypertension is just magnesium deficiency.

Citation needed. Magnesium is definitely critical for living organisms, humans or or other animals or plants alike, but that shouldn't be confused with the question of whether Magnesium deficiency leads to hypertension.
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