Can I Bring My Blood Pressure Down Naturally?

Question:

I've just been prescribed a drug for high blood pressure but I don't really want to take it because hair loss is listed as one of the side effects. Can you suggest an alternative course of treatment?

Answer:

I explain high blood pressure to my patients like this: when you water your garden, you can increase the water pressure by putting a powerful pump on it or by squeezing the nozzle. Similarly, blood pressure increases when the heart (a powerful pump) beats faster or when the arteries are constricted.

Blood pressure varies continuously, rising with exercise or anxiety and falling as you relax. The problem comes with persistent high blood pressure (hypertension), which affects 'about one adult in six in this country and may damage the heart and other organs. Blood pressure measurements are given as two numbers: a resting healthy young adult should reach no more than 120/80 mmHg (units of millimetres of mercury). Generally, hypertension is diagnosed with a reading persistently higher than 140/90 mmHg, even at rest.

The mai factors that cause the heart to beat faster are stress; abnormal production of hormones (mainly adrenalin and thyroxin); chemicals including caffeine, prescription and recreational drugs; excess salt, and lack of oxygen to the brain or tissues, which makes the body try to compensate by increasing blood flow. Blood vessels( particularly arteries) constrict because of stress, muscle spasm (due to tension or fatigue), cholesterol, excess salt coffee, monosodium glutamate or recreational drugs.

There are various states of blood pressure. Stage one is when blood pressure rises when stress is combined with a stimulus such as drinking coffee, consuming excess salt, taking drugs, exercising or being at a high altitude. As soon as the effect of the stimulus passes and/or you relax, blood pressure returns to normal.

In stage two, the body is conditioned to stress so is continuously in a state of high alert, and blood pressure must be controlled with drugs or other means such as acupuncture and herbal remedies.

In stage three, the arteries are narrowed internally With plaque, and blood pressure is even higher, permanently. Strong drugs and diuretics are prescribed.

Stage four spells danger: permanently constricted arteries mean the organs are starved of oxygen and they begin to change in structure and function. The heart beats very fast and begins to get enlarged.

High blood pressure can't be neglected: the many complications include heart attacks, stroke and coronary artery disease, headaches, irritability, insomnia, dizziness, brain haemorrhage, retinal haemorrhage and kidney damage. Pregnant women may suffer from pre-eclampsia (raised blood pressure coupled with kidney problems).

lf your high blood pressure is recently diagnosed and is not too worrying the chances are that the following programme will help regularise it, and you may never need medication.

These are my suggestions

Diet

• Fast once weekly for l6 weeks on non-citrus fruits raw salad and water - the body will relax, so blood pressure will drop. lf you are able to take rest, do a water fast six times in 24 hours drink a 250mltumbler of water with three drops of lime juice and one teaspoon of honey in it. This has a powerful effect in lowering blood pressure and keeping it low.
• Avoid excess salt, coffee, smoking, red meat, fried food, cheese, rich curries, monosodium glutamate, bacon, sausages, contraceptive pills, HRT tablets and steroids. Drink no more than four units of alcohol weekly.

Treatments

Rasagandha (Rasashala tablets) is an ayurvedic supplement that helps to calm the mind, relax muscles, lower blood pressure and induce good sleep. Take one tablet at bedtime for two months.

Therapies

Acupuncture has a good effect in lowering blood pressure.

Relaxation

* Listen to a relaxation/meditation CD at bedtime or in the evening after work every day for two months, such as Dr Ali's Relaxation CD ( Integrated Health Group).

*Practise therapeutic iyenger yoga (particularly the corpse pose) and breathing exercises (particularly 'retention' breathing). Details are in my book Theropeutic Yoga, co-written with Jiwan Brar.

Massage

Have a full body massage as often as possible to de-stress. muscles. Massage your neck, or ask someone to do it for you, for l5 to 20 minutes twice weekly to improve oxygen supply to the brain so the heart is not beating so hard. Details on how to do the massages are on my Lifestyle DVD (Integrated Health Group).

Exercise

Walk briskly in the fresh air for at least 30 to 60 minutes daily.

Massage Therapy To Help For Anxiety- Tips From One Professional To Another

When I first started as a massage therapist and people would walk into my clinic complaining of anxiety, I simply thought they were really stressed and would give them a simple relaxation massage.

Being disappointed with my treatments, I started to do more research on the subject since I believe to really treat somebody well you really need to understand how they feel. I went on the internet and read a variety of books to get a basic idea but quickly decided to go right to source and ask my clients how they felt and what bothered them.

Today, when somebody says they have anxiety, I follow up with a series of questions. The first being: - How do you feel your anxiety'? The answers can vary from - I feel I can't breathe, like I have a pressure on my chest.?, or - out of nowhere my heart starts beating weird and it makes me panic'I also hear about stomach complaints with phrases like - My stomach feels all twisted and in knots and I seem to have indigestion' and - my brain feels really foggy and I'm having a hard time staying focused'All these answers lead me to believe that some very important points to work on should be the stomach, the head as well as taking some time to focus on breathing techniques.

This all made perfect sense to me. Anxiety, being a psychological disorder affects our mind making us unable to think properly and clearly( foggy head and unable to concentrate). Also, we all know that psychological disturbance can affect our stomach. For example, being nervous to put on a presentation can give us butterflies ( cramps ) in our stomachs, and when we live a stress out heart beat elevates and our breaths get shorter.

From this point on my simple relaxation massage became much more complex and the feedback from my clients has been extremely good.

How I do it:

Breathing:

At the very beginning of the treatment, I take a few minutes to get my clients to be conscious of their breathing and to take deeper and fuller breaths. After a few respirations I put a pressure on their on their upper chest, just enough to get them to work their breathing muscles and ask them to continue with their breathing. After, I move on to put a pressure on the sides of the rib cage using the same technique. When I stop applying the pressure, they are able to take bigger breaths with a lot less effort and their heart rate is slower. Taking the time to do this allows me to start the massage with a calmer and more receptive client.

The Head:

To relax the head I was inspired by Indian head massage techniques. This specialty offers a wide variety of manoeuvres that focus on the head, scalp, face, neck and shoulders and with a little touch of lavender it works wonders.To finish off this area, I like to go work the points at the base of the skull which are important pressure points in Asian techniques to help with anxiety and stress.

The stomach:

I massage the stomach as usual with the help of essential oils. I use peppermint for the intestines and rosemary for the liver to encourage digestion. I also like to use ylang ylang on the lower part of the stomach to stimulate the hormones which can put us in a better mood and relieve the anxiety. And last but not least, I take a bit of time to work the solar plexus with some lavender. This is where most people feel 'knoted' and they enjoy the relief that it offers.

Taking the time to focus on these few points has made a tremendous difference on my clients. They feel like they got a relaxation massage with the added benefits of working targeted areas that really bothered them. I hope this article has been informative for other massage therapists and if your experience has thought you any tricks I would love to hear them. You can do so by leaving me at http://www.essencielproducts.com/Massage-Therapy-to-Help-for-Anxiety-Tips-from-one-professional-to-another

Treatment for gout pain

Gout is one of the most painful forms of arthritis that usually affects the toe joints. Middle age men those who consume large amounts of meat, eggs and other purine rich foods are more prone to gout. Women are less prone to gout because of their female hormone estrogen. There are many factors, responsible for gout.

More likely to have gout, if you are -

- A middle aged man aged between 40 to 50 years

- A post-menopausal woman.

- Consuming high purine foods such red meat and seafood (see Prevention)

- Drinking excess alcohol

- Taking certain diuretic medication.

- Having a family history of gout

- Suffering from kidney disease.

- Overweight

- Suffering from high blood pressure

Certain medicines are also known for causing gout such as diuretics, niacin, low doses of aspirin, cyclosporine and some drugs used to treat cancer.

An attack of gout often starts at night usually in the big toe. Some other joints may also be affected. Some common symptoms of gout are pain and swelling, fever, red and shiny skin around your joint. Frequent gout attacks can also lead to kidney troubles and tophi, which are soft tissue swellings caused by uric acid crystals. Gout sufferers are also at risk for kidney disease or kidney stones.

In addition to visiting your doctor for treatment, follow some tips on treatment for gout pain:

- Try to avoid high purine foods that stimulate the production of uric acid. Some well known high purine foods are meat and meat stock, shellfish, fatty fish, anchovies, eggs, and caffeine (coffee, tea, cola, chocolate).

-'''''? Eat moderate purine foods no more than 1 serving a day: Some common moderate purine foods are spinach, dry beans, yeast, whole-grain cereals, breads, asparagus, cauliflower, lentils, mushrooms, oatmeal and dry peas.

-'''''? Say low or not to alcohol.

-'''''? In order to eliminate excess uric acid from your body, try to drink eight to ten glasses of water on daily basis.

-'''''? Drinking herbal teas, rosehip and peppermint are also beneficial in the treatment of gout pain.

-'''''? Eat vitamin C and phosphorous rich fruits for your good. Natural source of phosphorous is banana and vitamin C is found abundantly in citrus fruits like oranges, lemon, cherries and berries.

-'''''? Eating a bowl full of cherries is an effective treatment for gout pain. According to the experts cherries are loaded with natural enzyme that helps break down and promote the excretion of uric acid.

-'''''? Don't wear tight-fitting shoes.

-'''''? Try to eat a well-balanced diet and exercise to lose excess weight.