There is a current trend in treating people with high blood pressure, and this trend has been shown to be both ineffective and dangerous.
In fact, it is so much of a concern that the issue has recently been discussed and debated heavily in the British Medical Journal.
You absolutely must know about this issue if you are taking blood pressure medications or if your doctor is pushing you to take medications.
High blood pressure is treated with medication. This is nothing new.
However, in recent years, more and more people with mild or pre-hypertension have also been prescribed drugs, and this is not good news.
Before we go any further, let us see what mild hypertension is. Severe high blood pressure is diagnosed in those with readings of 160 or higher (systolic) and 100 or higher (diastolic). Those with mild hypertension have systolic pressure in the range of 120 to 159 and diastolic pressure of 80 to 99.
Here is the blunt truth that they don’t tell you—there has never been any conclusive proof that medications are useful for mild hypertension in any way to prevent death from stroke and/or heart attack.
Among the population reported as suffering from high blood pressure, about 60% of cases have only mild hypertension. More importantly, some readings are typical examples of “white coat hypertension!” In other words, blood pressure has this wacky habit of shooting up just in the doctor’s office, while it normally wouldn’t anywhere else.
It is baffling why these patients are prescribed medications for a condition that can be cured with lifestyle changes. Yet most doctors don’t even mention this to their patients.
To make matters worse, these drugs come with risky side effects, including muscle weakness and vertigo. This is particularly dangerous in elderly people, who can suffer serious falls due to the side effects.
The side effects of high blood pressure medications have even been proven to cause heart attack and stroke (exactly what they’re supposed to prevent), leading to an early death.
So, if you’re suffering from mild hypertension, discuss it with your doctor and find out if you can replace medications with exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes. And always measure your readings at home to get more accurate values!