high blood pressure functional medicineIt’s not a question whether antihypertensive medication can significantly reduce the risk for a heart attack and stroke, however, this approach cannot reverse all of the previous damage or restore cardiovascular disease risk to ideal levels according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

This study analyzed whether effective treatment of hypertension could lower the risk of cardiovascular disease to that seen in people who have always had ideal blood pressure levels.

Obviously, the best outcomes were seen in individuals who always had ideal blood pressure and never needed medication. Individuals who were treated with medication and achieved an optimal blood pressure levels were still approximately at twice the risk of cardiovascular disease than healthy individuals; of course people with untreated or uncontrolled high blood pressure were at the greatest risk.

These results confirm the importance of prevention and early detection. There needs to be a greater effort to maintain lower blood pressure levels in younger adults to avoid increases in blood pressure over time that may require medication down the road.

The author states there needs to be a greater focus on healthy lifestyles and healthier eating patterns.

High blood pressure issues in many causes can be solved by simply addressing magnesium, potassium, and other nutrient deficiencies. We need to investigate some of the factors that can contribute to hypertension. For example, there are several lab tests that are essential for high blood pressure patients. It is crucial to assess RBC nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium since they play a significant role with blood pressure regulation. This provides a better indicator of nutrient status compared to the serum. In addition, it is important to test heavy metals in the blood such as, aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. Our environment is more toxic then ever and many people get exposures to these on a daily basis. Moderate to high levels of these metals in the circulation can significantly impact blood pressure as well. Also, CoQ10 (Ubiquinone) is a powerful antioxidant most prominent in the heart which regulates cardiac function as well as protects against arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, and hypertension.

It’s a fact that more than 50% of Americans are Mg deficient. I cannot stress enough the importance of magnesium deficiency as a serious and common health problem and probably the greatest predictor of all aspects of heart disease. Moderate doses of CoQ10 (200mg) and chelated bioavailable forms of minerals such as magnesium malate and potassium glycinate complex are great nutrients to support blood pressure. In addition, Hawthorne, B6, and taurine have mild diuretic effects. Pomegranate also has a multitude of polyphenolic antioxidant compounds associated with blood pressure reduction.

High blood pressure is many times just a small part of the picture. It’s important to look deeper at the cardiovascular system.

By Michael Jurgelewicz, DC, DACBN, DCBCN

Source: Kiang Liu, Laura A. Colangelo, Martha L. Daviglus, David C. Goff, Mark Pletcher, Pamela J. Schreiner, Christopher T. Sibley, Gregory L. Burke, Wendy S. Post, Erin D. Michos, Donald M. Lloyd‐Jones. Can Antihypertensive Treatment Restore the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease to Ideal Levels?: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study and the Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Journal of the American Heart Association, 2015; 4 (9): e002275 DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.115.002275

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