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Naturopathic medicine has much to offer to people with hypertension. In conventional medicine, most cases of high blood pressure are diagnosed as essential hypertension; this means high blood pressure with no known cause.
Conventional treatment is to force blood pressure down with medications. There are two problems with using medications:
As a naturopathic doctor I do not give clients supplements or herbs that force blood pressure down. If that was the goal, then my clients would be better off just taking blood pressure medication.
What I do is work with my clients on correcting the underlining issues that lead to high blood pressure. This page summarizes common considerations in cases of hypertension. As these underlining issues are improved, blood pressure should come down, reducing the need for medication.
There are many supplements which may be helpful for some people with hypertension. Some common ones include:
Supplements do not work like medications. Medications are designed to force blood pressure down.Magnesium on the hand may be helpful for hypertension in people who have high blood pressure and are low in magnesium. It will not work not work to force down blood pressure like the medications do.
A good intake in-office evaluation and lab tests can help determine which supplements are actually needed. One advantage of seeing a naturopathic doctor is learning what will work for you, instead of just trying supplements because they are supposed to good for a condition you have.
We can assess nutrient status in several ways. A good intake and understanding of what nutrient relates to various symptoms can help. In office I do kinesiology testing. Blood work may be helpful as well to test for status of numerous nutrients, such as CoQ10, amino acids and essential fatty acids.
Obesity is a know cause of high blood pressure. Therefore, for people who are over-weight a good diet and weight loss plan is important.
Salt is often blamed for causing hypertension. However, reducing salt intake alone is not enough. The diet needs to be high in quality foods that supplies other mineral that are needed.
Another dietary issue not often talked about is food allergies. Sometimes food allergies produce obvious symptoms, other times they do not. Undiscovered food allergies raise inflammation and put another stress on the body. In some cases testing for food allergies may be helpful.
Go to this page for more information on food allergy testing
Lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic may all play a role in blood pressure. Testing blood for these metals is usually not helpful. Heavy metals will not stay in the blood long before they are either excreted from the body, or stored in tissues. Specialty lab can test hair or urine for blood which can be more helpful.
Go to this page for more information on testing for heavy metals
Stress is known to be one of the main causes of hypertension. It is not always possible to avoid stress, but there are things we can do to moderate the body’s response to it. Relaxation techniques as a deep breathing, meditation and yoga may help.
I use the following methods with clients to reduce stress. This may help by controlling stress hormones that elevate blood pressure.
The adrenals are small glands that sit on top of the kidneys. The produce numerous hormones. For this article, the two relevant hormones are cortisol and aldosterone.
Cortisol is our major stress hormone. It triggers numerous physiological changes that help us survive emergency situations.
Cortisol is not bad, we need some into order to have energy. Also, when faced with an emergency situation the body needs to be able to response appropriately. The problem is when the stress does not go away. What is meant to be a short term adaptation to get through a stressful event turns into the way the body is working all the time.
Aldosterone is another adrenal hormone. Stress increases aldosterone. This causes the body to hold onto sodium and loose other minerals such as magnesium in the urine. Through this process elevated aldosterone may contribute to high blood pressure.
Both cortisol and aldosterone can be measured in a blood test. For cortisol a common alternative is to test saliva cortisol. Cortisol levels vary a lot during the day. A single blood test may miss the problem entirely. We can easily test saliva cortisol multiple times during the day with no need to go to a lab for a blood draw.
Go to this page for more on saliva cortisol testing
Herbal medicine works best when done according to the specific profile of each herb and individualized assessment of the person taking the herbs.
For example, valarian is a commonly used for stress, anxiety and insomnia. It’s also somewhat warming and in the wrong person creates more heat and worsens the symptoms it is mean to help. Lemon balm is another traditionally calming herb. It is traditionally used for stress, anxiety and insomnia just like valarian. However it is a very different herb. It’s cooling and reduces blood flow to the periphery.
Depending on the individual there are many potential uses for herbs in people with hypertension
I keep over 150 herbal tinctures in my office and often mix together specific herbal formulas for my clients. Go to this page for more information on constitutional assessment and Traditional Herbal medicine
With conditions such as high blood pressure the tendency may be to look for the best supplements, or best diet to control symptoms. As a naturopathic doctor my goal is not really to treat hypertension. The goal of naturopathic medicine is to improve health. If you improve overall health and work on underlining issues, the body heals and symptoms improve.
This page should therefore be considered a summary of considerations in cases of hypertension. Depending on the situation, other things may be done that are not listed above. Everything I do is based upon individualized assessment. There is no standard hypertension treatment.
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Copyright 2023 Naturopathic Wellness