Blood Pressure

Traffic Noise Raises Blood P

ressure

Living in areas with high traffic noise may lead to higher blood pressure and a concurrently higher risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a study conducted by researchers from Lund University Hospital in Sweden and published in the journal Environmental Health.

"Road traffic is the most impor tant source of community noise," said lead author Theo Bodin. "We found that exposure above 60 decibels was associated with high blood pressure among the relatively young and middle-aged, an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke."

Previous studies have found connections between living near airports and higher blood pressure. Scientists believe that constant noise may place the body in a state of chronic stress, leading to higher heart rate and blood pressure. It may also harm health by disturbing sleep patterns.

Researchers examined health and residence data on more than 24,000 adult residents of Sweden, using their home addresses to determine the average level of ambient traffic noise in their neighborhoods. Young and middle-aged adults being regularly exposed to average noise levels between 45 and 65 decibels were significantly more likely to have high blood pressure than those in quieter neigh borhoods, with risk increasing proportionally to noise level.

Among the middle-aged, 28 percent of those living in areas with noise averaging above 64 decibels reported high blood pressure. Only 17 percent of adults in the same age group and quieter neighborhoods suffered from hypertension. The numbers in younger adults were similar.

The researchers did not know why there appeared to be no link between noise and blood pressure in the elderly.

"The effect of noise may be come less important, or harder to detect, relative to other risk factors with increasing age," Bodin said. "Alternatively, it could be that noise annoyance varies with age."

Sixty-five decibels is a little louder than a normal conversation. Recent data suggest that 30 percent of the European Union's population is exposed to average traffic noise of 55 decibels or higher continually.

Potassium normalizes high blood pressure

High blood pressure isn't a disease, it's just a noticeable symptom of a physiological imbalance with a biological cause. One of the most common biological causes of this symptom is a mineral deficiency.

Specifically: Potassium.

Potassium is a crucial mineral for restoring healthy blood pressure balance in your body, and when you don't have enough potassium, symptoms can start to emerge that may eventually be diagnosed and labeled as "high blood pressure."

Here, we bring you a collection of useful information about how potassium can help regulate and normalize your blood pressure.

Potassium and high blood pressure

The sudden death that can occur in fasting, anorexia nervosa or starvation is often a result of heart failure caused by potassium deficiency. Many population studies have found links between low potassium intakes and an increased risk of high blood pressure and death from stroke. Increasing the amount of potassium-rich foods in the diet can lead to a reduction in high blood pressure. The ratio of sodium to potassium in the diet appears to play an important role in the development of high blood pressure. The typical Western diet is low in potassium relative to sodium.
- The New Encyclopedia of Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements and Herbs by Nicola Reavley

The effects of either low potassium or high potassium can be life-threatening. Since potassium is necessary to the healthy functioning of nerves, cells, and membranes, it is an important electrolyte to monitor. Low potassium is a major cause of cardiac arrhythmia; diuretics for the treatment of high blood pr essure or congestive heart failure may interfere with potassium absorption and excretion. Although potassium supplementation is usually not necessary, individuals on diuretics or laxatives or who have excessive diarrhea may require extra potassium.
- Optimum Health - A Cardiologist's Prescription for Optimum Health by Stephen T., M.D. Sinatra

When it comes to lowering blood pressure, potassium packs a powerful punch. Scientists began studying the effects of potassium on high blood pressure as early as 1928. Now a major study of 300 nurses shows that potassium can lower your blood pressure even if it's in the n

ormal range. Good sources of potassium are dried apricots, avocados, dried figs, acorn squash, baked potatoes, kidney beans, cantaloupe, citrus fruits, and bananas. You can also buy potassium supplements. If you're taking a diuretic, your body is getting rid of potassium along with fluid.
- Natural Cures and Gentle Medicines: That Work Better Than Dangerous Drugs or Risky Surgery by Frank K. Wood

For example, a diet low in potassium and high in sodium is associated with high blood pressure. By contrast, a diet high in potassium and low in sodium can protect against elevation of blood pressure. It has become common knowledge that too much salt in our diet may contribute to high blood pressure. Not so commonly known is that high blood pressure is also related to too little potassium in our diet. In fact, restricting salt alone may not be enough to lower the blood pressure. Potassium must be increased. Most Americans ingest twice as much sodium as potassium.

Garlic is natural medicine for treating high blood pressure

Garlic is one of the most amazing medicinal herbs on the planet. It has been among my top-recommended healing foods and medicines for years. Most people know garlic as being anti-cancer. Others recognize its ability to naturally lower high cholesterol. But did you know that garlic also helps normalize high blood pressure?

Here, we present a collection of powerful quotes about garlic and high blood pressure, documented in some of the best health books ever written. Enjoy this collection of knowledge!

Garlic vs. high blood pressure

Onions have similar characteristics and are often used in combination with garlic. To preserve the beneficial effects of garlic it should not be boiled. The fresh juice is the most effective preparation. For nervous spasms, cramps and seizures, crush one clove of garlic in a glass of hot milk. For high blood pressure, take one clove of garlic each morning. Prepare oil of garlic by placing eight ounces of peeled minced garlic in a wide-mouthed jar with enough olive oil to cover. Close tightly and shake a few times each day; allow to stand in a warm place for three days.
- The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra

Garlic has achieved a legendary reputation as an antihypertensive medication. It's been used in China for centuries for that purpose, and the Japanese government officially recognizes garlic as a blood-pressure depressor. American scientists first tried garlic against high blood pressure in 1921. Garlic consistently lowers blood pressure in laboratory animals.
- The Food Pharmacy: Dramatic New Evidence That Food Is Your Best Medicine by Jean Carper

Eat more garlic. It is another legendary folk remedy for high blood pressure, and it is effective, according to recent studies. Long used in China and widely used today in Germany as a blood pressure medication, garlic can have a striking impact. In a recent double blind German test of Kwai, an over-the-counter garlic preparation, doses comparable to a couple of daily garlic cloves pushed diastolic blood pressure down in patients with mild high blood pressure.
- Food Your Miracle Medicine by Jean Carper

I heard a lot about garlic being a good remedy for colds, but I was hesitant to try it because I also heard it lowers high blood pressure. Since my blood pressure is normal, I thought the garlic might cause it to drop. Fortunately, I read where a medical doctor said that garlic normalizes high or low blood pressure, but does not disturb normal blood pressure. With this assurance, I tried Kyolic garlic tablets the next time I felt I was starting to come down with a cold. Within a few days, I felt fine.
- Secrets of the Chinese Herbalists by Richard Lucas

The confidence the Egyptians had in garlic is demonstrated by the fact that they reportedly used it to strengthen the workers who built the pyramids. Pliny recommended garlic for 61 maladies in his Historia Naturalis; Hippocrates recommended it as a laxative, diuretic, and cure for tumors of the uterus. Garlic has been used to treat high blood pressure for centuries in China and Japan. In first-century India, garlic and onion were thought to prevent heart disease and rheumatism. Garlic even had a reputation as an aphrodisiac in Shakespearean England.

High Blood Pressure Linked to Mental Decline for Young and Old

Researchers from the University of Maine reported in a journal published by the American Heart Association, Hypertension, that mental function is measurably affected by high blood pressure in otherwise healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 83. The study was begun in 1974 by Merrill Elias and David Streeten, Professor of Medicine, of the Health Sciences Center, State University of New York at Syracuse and spanned 20 years.

In the same issue of Hypertension an editorial from medical researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands said the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS) of the last 20 years breaks new ground and has far reaching public health implications. Other studies have measured high blood pressure, hypertension and high pulse pressure in older adults and found worse cognitive performance than those having normal readings, but none had examined both younger and older individuals over an extended time period.

A more recent study conducted on participants over the age of 45 underscores the association between high blood pressure and reduced mental ability. For every 10-point increase in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number in a blood pressure reading), the odds of mental impairment increase by 7 percent, though it's not clear why.

In the August 25th issue of Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology, results of the study were reported by a team including George Howard, chairman of the department of biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. He says other studies have found such a relationship, but this particular one carries significant weight because of its size and efficacy. Dr. David Knopman, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, says this new study supports a large body of literature that shows hypertension has an impact on cognition.

Dr. Georgios Tsivgoulis, the neurologist who compiled the data and spends his time between Greece and the University of Alabama, believes more research is needed to confirm the findings. He states, "It is possible that by preventing or treating high blood pressure, we could potentially prevent cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to dementia. That`s an important possibility considering the world's population is aging with a forecast of increased dementia for 100 million people by the year 2050.

Deputy director of the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Dr. Walter J. Koroshetz, agrees with Dr. Tsivgoulis's statement and says the National Institute of Health will organize a large clinical trial to further evaluate the association between lowering blood pressure and health issues including cognitive decline.

Whether you are young or older, if lowering high blood pressure can keep your mind sharp and prevent dementia, here are a few ways to do so without medication.

Drink plenty of pure, unadulterated water. Chronic dehydration is often the cause of high blood pressure. The body tries to hold on to water reserves by constricting blood vessels, raising your blood pressure. Soft drinks or fruit juices won't have the same effect as clean filtered water.

Sodium chloride, sodium, and table salt can raise blood pressure. When using salt choose a healthy salt from the ocean-sea salt (often called Himalayan or Celtic) which has important minerals and elements unlike sodium chloride.

Stress is a major contributor to high blood pressure. Research has shown physical exercise is the best tension reliever. Any exercise that gets your heart pumping will get those endorphins (stress-busters) flowing.

Train your mind to become less responsive to stress through meditation, yoga, visualization and deep breathing.

When we think of the health risks associated with high blood pressure, the first one that usually comes to mind is coronary heart disease followed by heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and a host of other insidious health problems. These are just a few of the reasons it is imperative to keep your blood pressure numbers in the optimal range of 120/80. There is certainly an added incentive now that we learn optimal control of blood pressure is vital at any age for protecting your mind.

Hibiscus Tea Significantly Lowers Blood Pressure

Drinking hibiscus tea can significantly reduce blood pressure among people with elevated risks of cardiovascular or kidney disease, according to a new study presented at the annual conference of the American Heart Association.

High blood pressure is a dangerous health condition that triples the risk of heart attack and is responsible for 60 percent of all strokes. The condition is very common in the developed world; one in three people in the United Kingdom, for example, are considered to suffer from high blood pressure.

Researcher Diane McKay and colleagues conducted the study on 65 people between the ages of 30 and 70 whose high blood pressure levels placed them at increased risk of kidney disease, heart attack and stroke. Participants were assigned to drink either hibiscus tea or a placebo three times per day for six weeks.

At the end of the study, blood pressure levels had fallen an average of 7.2 percent in the hibiscus group, compared with only 1.3 percent in the placebo group. Some patients in the hibiscus group actually experienced a 13.2 percent reduction.

"Hibiscus is now the most promising herb for treating blood pressure," said alternative medicine expert Andrew Weill. "Studies have found that people who drank two cups of hibiscus daily for four weeks lowered their diastolic blood pressure by 12 percent -- results similar to those for common blood pressure medication."

Scientists do not know exactly what compounds in hibiscus contribute to its protective effect, but the flowers are known to contain chemicals known as anthocyanins, which have been shown to improve the functioning of blood vessels and strengthen the protein collagen, which helps give structure to cells and tissues, including blood vessels.

Anthocyanins and other components of hibiscus tea are also known to function as antioxidants, cleansing the body of dangerous free radicals that can have been linked to heart disease, cancer and the symptoms of aging.

Beverages made or flavored from the flowers of the plan Hibiscus sabdariffa are popular in many African, Asian and Caribbean countries.