Daily Blood Pressure Busters

We know for certain that blood pressure tends to rise as we get older. Family history plays a big role. Elevated blood pressure, in turn, raises our risk of having strokes and heart attacks. While there s not much we can do to turn back the hands of time and we can t choose our parents and grandparents, there are also a lot of things that appear to lower blood pressure and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Conversely, there are other things, some of which are touted in magazines and health food stores, that have little or no effect or may even raise blood pressure. Perversely, some medications, both over-the-counter and prescription-only, can make blood pressure go up. 

Rather than appear to give priority to one or the other in my review of these things. I ve chosen to discuss them in alphabetical order. It s a real potpourri of ideas you may never have heard of or considered. 

This Asian technique has been used for centuries by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean physicians to treat a wide variety of ailments. In 2005, German researchers reported their findings on the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of high blood pressure at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association. They worked with 160 male and female patients ages forty-five 

Of that starting group, 141 patients completed the trial 72 got acupuncture and 69 received the sham treatment or placebo. Immediately after the subjects received acupuncture, their blood pressure fell from an average of 131/81 to 125/78, but the sham treatment had no impact during a twenty-four-hour period. When patients were tested three and six months later, however, there were no residual effects from the acupuncture treatment. 

Unless you happen to live with an acupuncture therapist, this doesn t seem to be a practical way to control blood pressure. 

---