HIGH
AND LOW BLOOD PRESSURE
by
Dr. Lawrence Wilson
©
May 1, 2016, L.D. Wilson Consultants,
Inc.
All information in this article is for
educational purposes only. It is
not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health
condition.
Contents
I. INTRODUCTION TO HYPERTENSION
A stealth disease
Essential hypertension
Stress
Overweight
Inflammation
Excessive arterial muscle tone
Reduced Arterial Elasticity
Narrowing Of Arteries (Arteriosclerosis or
Atherosclerosis)
Kidney Dysfunctions – Usually Toxicity Or
Infection
Water Retention Due To Other Causes
Fat Arm Syndrome
Other (Tumors, etc.)
III. CORRECTION OF
HYPERTENSION
Nutritional Balancing correction
Blood Pressure Rise And Retracing
Drugs For Hypertension
IV. HAIR ANALYSIS INDICATORS AND
HYPERTENSION
Causes
Correction
Hair Analysis Patterns
According
to the US Centers for Disease Control, hypertension affects 23% of Americans
between the age of 20 and 75 and 70% of Americans over 75. In the year 2000 it accounted for 35
million doctor visits. This is a
severe medical problem, and yet it often responds beautifully to a nutritional
balancing program – without a need for medical drugs.
In fact, a properly
performed and interpreted hair mineral analysis often reveals not only the
cause of the problem, but how to go about reducing the blood pressure by eliminating
its physical and other causes.
A stealth disease. Hypertension is a serious problem because it is usually
ÒsilentÓ, having no symptoms. Yet
it is a major cause for causes strokes, aneurysms and heart attacks.
Taking your blood pressure.
Anyone who is not on a nutritional balancing program should check blood
pressure at least once a year. You
need not go to the doctor for this.
Some stores have blood pressure monitors you can borrow, or you can buy
one for a reasonable cost.
BEWARE: Blood pressure is often higher when it is measured in doctorÕs
offices. This is from
nervousness. Be sure to relax
before having your blood pressure taken, or do it several times, although this
is no guarantee that it will decrease.
An ideal blood
pressure is about 120/80 mm. If
the blood pressure reading is above 120-80, but below about 140/90, it is very
mildly elevated blood pressure.
This is not a problem, though it can signal stress or the beginning of
arterial disease.
ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION
Over 90% of high
blood pressure is labeled essential hypertension.
This is medical jargon that means Òwe do not know the causeÓ. The standard medical, naturopathic and
holistic approach is just to ÒcontrolÓ this very important condition with
drugs, or perhaps with natural products such as vitamins and herbs.
In contrast,
nutritional balancing can usually identify the biochemical cause of the
condition and is often very effective to normalize blood pressure by reversing
its cause. It is important to
understand how different this approach is from controlling the problem with
drugs or even natural remedies.
II. CAUSES OF HIGH
BLOOD PRESSURE
A
properly performed and interpreted hair mineral analysis reveals the following
common causes for high blood pressure:
1. Stress. Acute or chronic stress from any source can induce a fight
or-flight response that can result in elevated blood pressure. This can be emotional stressors,
financial stress, family pressures, fatigue, spinal misalignment, pain or some
other type of stress.
2. Overweight. When one carries
extra weight, it forces the heart to pump the blood much further – often
several miles further! As a
result, the body often raises the blood pressure to move the blood around the
body.
In these instances,
losing weight often causes the blood pressure to return to normal very
quickly. Losing weight is very
safe and very easy with a nutritional balancing program. For much more on this subject, please
read Weight Loss on this website.
3.
Inflammation. This is another
common cause of elevated blood pressure.
This can be due to nutrient deficiencies, toxic metals or toxic
chemicals in the body, or other imbalances.
Anger can also
induce an inflammatory state that raises blood pressure.
4. Excessive muscle tone in the arteries. Too much sympathetic nervous system
tone constricts the arteries. The
effect is like putting your finger over the end of a hose.
Excessive adrenal or
thyroid glandular activity causes
constriction of the arteries. This
can be the result of stress, or thyroid or adrenal diseases, or toxins, or even
an infection in the nervous system, brain or elsewhere.
For example,
increased thyroxine secretion lowers calcium (Davis et al. 1983; Segal et al.
1985, 1989, Kervan, 1963).
Excessive aldosterone secretion increases sodium retention in the
tissues.
Deficiencies of
calcium, magnesium or copper can have the same effect. Most people with this cause of
hypertension are fast oxidizers or those with a four lows pattern. Their blood pressure often is labile or
fluctuates up and down.
Lead or arsenic
toxicity are one cause of calcium deficiency. These metals replace calcium but do not have the same
relaxing effect on the nerves as calcium.
Emotional
or other stress will cause excess adrenal activity and high blood pressure by
this mechanism. With this type of
hypertension, often both numbers are elevated and the blood pressure may be
labile or fluctuates up and down depending on oneÕs situation, mood or other
factors.
5. Diabetes or
metabolic syndrome. Type 2 diabetes
can cause damage to the small arteries, in particular, and this can cause
elevated blood pressure.
Metabolic syndrome is often a
precursor to diabetes. It is
associated with weight gain, high cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood
sugar and often high blood pressure.
Both these conditions respond very nicely to a complete nutritional
balancing program.
6. Loss of
elasticity of the arteries.
Zinc deficiency causes the arteries to become hard, brittle and often
inflamed instead of soft and flexible.
This loss of flexibility will raise the blood pressure, in particular
the systolic
pressure. This is the top or
first blood pressure number.
Cadmium,
mercury, lead, copper and other toxic metals may replace zinc in the artery
walls and contribute to the brittleness and hardness of the arteries. In this common type of high blood
pressure, often there is a large spread between the blood pressure numbers.
High
readings of cadmium, mercury and lead may or may not be present on early hair
analyses, but will show up later as the metals are eliminated if one follows a
nutritional balancing program.
7. Calcium or fatty plaques in the arteries. These are called arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis. Once the arteries become inflamed and
brittle, the body may coat them with calcium and/or fatty plaques to prevent
rupture of the arteries. The
plaque reduces the interior diameter of the arteries. It also hardens them so they are less flexible.
More pressure is
then required to force the blood through the smaller diameter arteries. This is common in older people, in
particular.
Deficiencies
of copper, zinc, bioflavinoids, vitamins C and E and other nutrients contribute
to this problem. Excessive cadmium,
lead, arsenic or aluminum may also play a role. General poor nutrition also contributes, as can emotional
factors, as well.
This cause of
hypertension is slower to respond as it is a more chronic condition. Many of these individuals show a pattern
of slow oxidation or four low electrolytes on a hair tissue mineral
analysis. The hair calcium and
magnesium levels are often elevated above 100 mg% for calcium and above about
10 mg% for magnesium.
8. Kidney dysfunctions. A number
of problems in the kidneys can and often do cause hypertension. Standard blood tests for kidney
function are often normal. These
problems include:
Toxic metals. Excessive mercury,
nickel, lead, arsenic, aluminum or cadmium can cause kidney congestion and
kidney damage.
Medical drugs. Other substances that damage the
kidneys are prescription medications such as anti-inflammatory drugs and many,
many others. Even diuretics used
for blood pressure control can cause much kidney damage eventually. Many other chemical toxins can affect the kidneys as well.
Infections. Many people have chronic kidney infections that
may produce few obvious symptoms.
These will resolve on a nutritional balancing program.
These dysfunctions
reduce the kidneysÕ ability to regulate water balance in the body. This can
lead to water retention, salt retention and high blood pressure.
A hair mineral
analysis may show elevated toxic metals, slow oxidation, an imbalanced
sodium/potassium ratio or other indicators of toxicity.
9. Abnormal sodium or water retention for reasons other than
kidney disease. Excessive renin or
aldosterone raise the sodium level, which can cause water retention. Circulating toxins in the blood can
also increase water retention.
Magnesium deficiency
can contribute to water retention.
Allergic reactions to anything, such as a bee sting, a food or even an
environmental toxin, occasionally causes water retention as the body attempts
to respond to the stress of the allergic substance. These may cause a volatile or even a highly elevated blood
pressure.
Water retention may
show up on a hair mineral analysis as a fast oxidation rate, or the presence of
the ÔamigosÕ, for example, or cadmium, all of which can raise the tissue sodium
level.
10. Fat arm syndrome.
If your arms are quite heavy, either muscular or fatty, this can
result in a false high blood pressure reading. In this case, there may be a special blood pressure cuff
that will give a more accurate reading.
11. Tumors or Other Causes.
Occasionally, a tumor constricts a major artery or some other factor can
cause high blood pressure. Even a
genetic defect could possibly affect blood pressure. If no cause can be found, more medical studies may be
needed. These causes are quite rare.
III. CORRECTION OF
HYPERTENSION
CORRECTION OF HYPERTENSION WITH NUTRITIONAL BALANCING
In
most cases, hypertension resolves with a nutritional balancing program. Correction can take from a few months
up to several years. The
speed of correction depends upon the cause, and how well a person follows the
program. Most cases respond very
well, however.
A complete
nutritional balancing program requires:
á
Basic lifestyle factors such as more rest and sleep, and excellent
eating habits.
á
A diet for your oxidation type.
á
About 8 nutritional supplements that are
tailored for your body chemistry.
á
A detoxification protocol that involves the use
of a near infrared sauna daily coffee enemas.
á
The Pushing Down mental exercise.
á
At times, chiropractic is needed, as well.
á
Regular retesting of the hair every three to six months is also
necessary in order to keep the program current and appropriate.
ADDITIONAL
PRODUCTS
The
following remedies can help reduce inflammation and may also reduce blood
pressure:
Garlic capsules.
(up to 2 capsules three times daily) This may assist with lowering blood
pressure. We like Endomet
Garlic or Kyolic Garlic – Original.
Kidney Support. Since the kidneys are often involved in
hypertension, the product called Renamide from Endomet Labs (up to 2 tablets
three times daily may be helpful in some cases.
DETOXIFICATION PROCEDURES THAT ARE VERY HELPFUL
Near infrared lamp sauna. I
highly recommend the use of a near
infrared lamp sauna to help correct hypertension. Research indicates that the correct use
of this sauna will not raise the blood pressure. Instead, it causes dilation of the peripheral blood vessels
and relaxes the sympathetic nervous system. It also assists greatly with toxin removal and does it in a
way that spares the kidneys.
It can also be done
at home at a very low cost. Other
types of saunas, such as far infrared and traditional saunas, do not seem to
work nearly as well as the lamp sauna.
Coffee enemas. This detoxification
procedure is also very good for hypertension. Coffee drinking is terrible for high blood pressure, but
coffee enemas have a very different effect. Often several years on these therapies are required to
reverse deeper causes of hypertension.
OTHER FACTORS
Avoid ALL table salt.
Table salt is irritating and a very poor quality food. Table salt has been stripped of its
trace minerals and often contains added aluminum and perhaps other chemicals
added to make it flow better. It
can be very hard on the kidneys, and can make hypertension much worse. in
particular.
Instead of table
salt, substitute a quality sea salt.
Most people need not avoid sea salt. A quality sea salt such as Real Salt by Redmond will often
not elevate blood pressure at all, although anyone with hypertension should
watch their intake of all salt.
Especially avoid
most prepared foods that are salty such as pickles, relishes, dips, many
cheeses, baked goods, soups and hundreds of other products. Start preparing all or most of your
food fresh to eliminate hidden table salt. Also avoid most restaurant food, as they often add table
salt to give it flavor.
Eat many more cooked vegetables and fewer carbohydrates. Especially
eliminate all bread and wheat products.
Also, eliminate sweets of all kinds, such as all sugars, fruits, fruit
juices. Eating many more cooked
vegetables and eliminating all wheat and all sugars, fruit and sweets will
balance the body and cause weight loss that is also most helpful to reduce
blood pressure.
Avoid almost all food chemicals and additives. Many of these can cause allergic or
other reactions in the body that can excite the glands, stress the kidneys, and
raise blood sugar and blood pressure in sensitive people.
Rest. Getting even one
extra hour of sleep every night can also reduce blood pressure, at times
dramatically. Getting 10 or more
hours of restful sleep, or just napping or even lying down every day for half
an hour or more, is also excellent and can reduce some high blood
pressure. This is a very simple
and important way to reduce blood pressure, especially in early cases and in
young people.
Losing excess weight is another simple, but extremely beneficial
method of reducing a high blood pressure.
Each pound of extra weight forces the heart to pump the blood several
extra miles.
For this reason,
losing even 10 pounds can make a huge difference in some cases. Living on mainly cooked vegetables and
a small amount of animal protein daily, even for just a month or two, takes
care of many peopleÕs high blood pressure if it is due to excessive weight.
Exercise. Research also
indicates that some regular walking or other gentle exercise can have a
moderating effect upon blood pressure.
It may do this by improving circulation or by helping a person relax.
Vigorous exercise is never necessary and never recommended. It can be dangerous, and is just not
needed, if one follows a nutritional balancing program.
Stress reduction techniques include taking a walk every day, biofeedback,
relaxation therapies, near infrared sauna therapy, or very gentle yoga
only. These can be helpful for
some cases of high blood pressure.
An interesting
recent study showed that pet owners had lower blood pressures than those who do
not own pets.
Emotional control and emotional release methods. Any technique or practice that reduces excessive
adrenal activity or helps moderate the emotions, particularly anger and
hostility, may help lower blood pressure.
Be sure to keep
the body properly hydrated with 3 quarts of spring water daily. Do not drink reverse osmosis water,
alkaline water or most other types of Òdrinking waterÓ, Òpurified waterÓ,
Òdeionized waterÓ or others. These
tend not to hydrate the body nearly as well.
BLOOD PRESSURE ELEVATION DURING A NUTRITIONAL BALANCING PROGRAM
Very rarely, blood
pressure can rise during a nutritional balancing program. Two reasons for this are:
1. Stress. This can raise your
blood pressure at any time, on or off a nutritional balancing program.
2. Toxic metal elimination and kidney stress. I have received one report of a
temporary rise in blood pressure during a nutritional balancing program as the
body eliminated a toxic metal or toxic chemical. The rise was temporary and benign. No special therapy was required.
IV. HAIR ANALYSIS INDICATORS FOR HYPERTENSION
The hair must not be
washed at the laboratory at all for these indicators to be accurate. They include:
1. Inflammation and/or stress indicators. Hair mineral analysis patterns may
include a fast oxidation rate, a sodium/potassium ratio greater than about 4, a
three highs/four highs pattern, and perhaps three lows or a four lows
pattern. Other patterns are also
possible, but less common.
2.
Sodium retention. Patterns include an elevated hair sodium
level above about 25 mg% or a four lows pattern. Even with a normal sodium level, the presence of toxic
metals can indicate hidden sodium retention, such as a hair cadmium level
greater than 0.009 mg%.
3.
Toxic metals in the kidneys, arteries, heart or elsewhere. Patterns include a sodium/potassium ratio less than about
2.5, cadmium above 0.009 mg%, lead above 0.05 mg%, and possibly any other toxic
metal elevation. Also, poor eliminator
patterns (extremely low toxic metal levels) indicate hidden toxic metals that
the body cannot eliminate.
4.
Deficiency of the sedative minerals – calcium, magnesium and/or zinc. Patterns include a fast oxidation rate, four lows pattern,
possibly three lows pattern, zinc less than about 13 mg%, copper above 2.5 mg%
or hidden copper toxicity indicators.
elevated hair levels of calcium, magnesium and/or zinc also often
indicate mineral biounavailability, which amounts to a type of deficiency inside
the body.
5.
Calcium or other deposits in the arteries. Patterns
include a hair calcium level above about 140 mg%, cadmium above about 0.009
mg%, and/or poor eliminator patterns.
6. Excessive sympathetic nervous system tone or activity. Patterns include a
fast oxidation rate, a sympathetic dominance pattern, and/or a four lows
pattern.
7. Imbalanced oxidation rates – either too fast or too slow.
At times, these
patterns may be masked on the first or even the first few hair mineral
analyses. They must be uncovered
by continuing on a program for a number of months or occasionally several
years.
DRUG USE IN HYPERTENSION
Drug
therapy is helpful if oneÕs blood pressure is above 160/100, at least until a nutritional
balancing program can reverse the cause and lower the blood pressure naturally.
Avoid drugs for mild hypertension. Today, many people are on hypertension
medications for mildly elevated blood pressure. New guidelines (2013) from the European Society For
Hypertension and the European Society of Cardiology state that there should be no treatment for
those with a high normal blood pressure (up to about 160/100). For those with only mildly elevated
blood pressure, drugs offer little to no benefit in terms of fewer heart
attacks or strokes, and they definitely can cause harmful side effects.
The side effects of the drugs are much worse than the elevated
blood pressure, and the drugs do not reduce the chances of heart attacks and
other cardiovascular problems.
Problems with
drug therapy. Anti-hypertensive drugs have many side effects. If you are taking one or more of these
drugs, be sure to read about the adverse effects.
A
compensation. An interesting
reason for some of the adverse effects of drug therapy for hypertension is that
often the body raises the blood pressure as a compensation for clogged arteries, low cell
permeability, or for some other reason.
This
may be called secondary
hypertension. This means that
the high blood pressure is really only secondary to, or a result of another
problem.
In
these cases, lowering the blood pressure with drugs, in particular, does
nothing to address the primary cause of the problem. Also, it can cause symptoms related to impaired
perfusion or circulation of the blood, for example, starvation of the tissues
for the same reason, and other problems.
This
is a very common condition. In
most cases, it causes no problems whatsoever. However, a blood pressure less than about 100/60 can cause
dizziness, or vertigo, fainting, weakness, headaches and perhaps other symptoms
such as impaired circulation.
CAUSES
1. Weak adrenal and/or thyroid glandular
activity.
2. Toxic metal poisoning
3. Nutrient deficiencies.
4. Dehydration.
5. Lack of adequate rest and sleep.
6. A very slow oxidation rate.
7. Chronic infection in the body.
8. Reduced arterial muscle tone. This is often related to sluggish
glandular activity and a slow oxidation rate.
9. Rarely, other causes such as a chronic illness,
tumor, or something else.
CORRECTION
OF LOW BLOOD PRESSURE
A complete nutritional balancing program usually
causes the blood pressure to rise into the normal range within a few months,
without the need for any other interventions.
This occurs because the program slowly
replenishes vital nutrients such as zinc, selenium, chromium, iodine and
others. The program also balances
body chemistry and causes the elimination of two dozen toxic metals and hundreds
of toxic chemicals.
As a result, the adrenal and thyroid glands
begin to function better, and the arterial tone improves, as well. Other imbalances such as chronic
infections also go away.
Symptomatic approach. A symptomatic method to raise low blood
pressure is to:
1) Drink more water of the proper type –
about three quarts daily,
2) Consume more sea salt in your diet, but not
table salt. Also, do not drink
water with salt in it, as some advocate.
This is quite toxic, I believe
3) Take three to six tablets or capsules of an
adrenal glandular supplement.
While this may help, it may not address the
cause of the problem and this is why I much prefer a nutritional balancing
program, if possible.
HAIR ANALYSIS INDICATORS FOR LOW BLOOD PRESSURE
1. Slow
oxidation rate. Usually, the
oxidation rate is slow. This
indicates sluggish adrenal and thyroid glandular activity.
2. Fatigue
indicators. These may include
a low sodium/potassium ratio, a four lows pattern, and perhaps a bowl pattern.
3. Possibly a low sodium/potassium ratio. This is associated with infection and
kidney dysfunction.
4. Perhaps high
levels of toxic metals such as copper or cadmium.
OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT
CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONS
There
are numerous articles about cardiovascular health conditions on this
website. They are available by clicking here.
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