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

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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

#31

Post by FollowingTheDao »

neuroma wrote: post #28
lambdaba wrote: 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.

This is a nice idea but unfortunately doesn't translate to significant decreases in blood pressure for most people. 4g of IV magnesium sulphate barely affects the blood pressure. But I'd still recommend more broccoli for everyone.

This is whey we need to be talking more about nutritional genomics. Magnesium will help for people who have a need for magnesium based on their genetics.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22051430/

I do not care if a supplement works for "most people", I only care if it works for me.

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

#32

Post by peoplefromibiza »

burke wrote: post #22
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 co…

This is where American drug pricing does a lot of work. I used to work for a Canadian Internet pharmacy selling prescription drugs to Americans, splitting the difference between wholesale and US retail prices. A 30-day supply of Lipitor - I think, the most-prescribed drug in America? - is something like $150–200. Our cost was something like a dollar and we'd sell it for something like ten.

Impressive and also scary.

I'm on lercanidipine and ramipril, a month worth of pills cost 2.50 euros for the former and 3.80 euros for the latter.

both are manufactured in Italy.

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

#33

Post by verisimi »

yupper32 wrote: post #9

This shoots up so many red flags. "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 . So while there is an apparent role for supplements in treating hypertension, their ability to improve cardiovascular outcomes remains to be proven." "Many natural compounds in food, as well as certain n…

"There's no inherent reason to prefer more "natural" solutions to medical issues."

There's certainly no money for pharmaceuticals!

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

#35

Post by hourislate »

burke wrote: post #12
rgrieselhuber wrote: post #2

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.

>that diet and exercise adjustment will fix hypertension in most (not all!) cases.

Not really although it can certainly help. There is evidence that there is a profound change (infection of some sort) in the Kidney and at some point that causes a run away inflammatory response that leads to Hypertension, it is an autoimmune condition that is extremely difficult to manage or get rid of. They believe it may be responsible for a great deal of Essential hypertension in adults today.

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

#36

Post by matheusmoreira »

yupper32 wrote: post #9

This shoots up so many red flags. "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 . So while there is an apparent role for supplements in treating hypertension, their ability to improve cardiovascular outcomes remains to be proven." "Many natural compounds in food, as well as certain n…

Completely agree. The fact that certain "natural" supplements mimic the pharmacodynamics of existing drugs is nothing new. Certain teas are diuretic but nobody is gonna prescribe tea instead of thiazides.

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

#37

Post by yupper32 »

asdfman123 wrote: post #30
yupper32 wrote: post #9

This shoots up so many red flags. "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 . So while there is an apparent role for supplements in treating hypertension, their ability to improve cardiovascular outcomes remains to be proven." "Many natural compounds in food, as well as certain n…

> There's no inherent reason to prefer more "natural" solutions to medical issues Yes there is: 1) Treatment just treats the issue, unlike a healthy lifestyle which helps people avoid them in the first place. 2) Good health has various benefits beyond just fixing one particular health problem. But the role of medicine is to treat the diseased and maybe offer some guidance along the way. Being healthy is up to the ind…

Well there are two very different things suggested in the original post:

1. Supplements/"Natural compounds"

2. Diet/lifestyle changes

We should absolutely not replace pharmaceuticals with supplements/"Natural compounds" without clinical data showing it works.

And for diet/lifestyle changes, that's really hard to implement. People just aren't good at changing their lifestyles. So while overall we should be promoting more healthy lifestyles, it should not replace pharmaceuticals when trying to treat a specific issue.

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

#38

Post by car »

The effects of nutrition on blood pressure are undisputed, see [0] for more in depth information.

Nobody argues against drugs to treat hypertension, but there is little awareness that diet can have a massive effect. Proper diet, of course, should be the preferred path if at all possible.

Sadly, our society has normalized a vicious circle of the very detrimental Western Diet, leading to the need for pharmacological interventions when the cardiovascular feces hits the fan as people get older.

That, to me, is the point of this article.

[0] https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=Blood+pressure

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

#39

Post by slibhb »

asdfman123 wrote: post #21

Isn't the idea to avoid it heart conditions with nutrition and exercise, but offer drugs to people who can't or won't comply? My plan is to avoid this stuff until I'm old with a healthy lifestyle, but you can't just tell other people to do that.

Your plan is the same as mine. However I have older (male) relatives who eat healthy, exercise, and aren't overweight but still have high blood pressure.

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

#40

Post by FollowingTheDao »

The one question doctors never answer, nor seek to find out, is "why" someone has hypertension. Isn't that the question they should be answering? A diagnosis is not a cause, and doctors do not have time to find out the cause of each persons hypertension.

Trust me, when they find out why you re hypertensive, nutrition, supplements, and lifestyle changes can easily treat hypertension.

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