Chinese Medicine for Hypertension

Ayurveda for Hypertension

Conventional Medicine for High Blood Pressure

TREATMENT

If you are diagnosed with high blood or hypertension and you were prescribed by your doctor medicines to control you blood pressure. Ask if you could first try non-drug approach by combining dietary change, exercise and alternative remedies. Then try these for your self.

Chinese medicine treats high blood pressure with formulas that contain yin-nourishing, Liver-regulation herbs. These include gartdia rhixome, polygonum, and leonurus leaf.

You can also try acupressure by applying a penetrating finger pressure to each of the following points for 3 minutes,

Liver 3, situated on top of your foot in the webbing between your big toe and second toe.

Governing Vessel 20, located on top of your head, where a line drawn from ear to ear would intersect with the midline of your body.

Spleen 6, located four finger-widths above your inner anklebone on the back inner border of your shinbone.

Ayurvedic medicine can also be used to lower high blood pressure. Ayurvedic practitioners view high blood pressure as primarily a Vata disorder. To treat high blood pressure through the Ayurvedic approach, it is suggested that you undergo a dietary change. You are advised to eat more fruits and vegetables, especially garlic and onions, less of salt and saturated fat. And to take Ayurvedic herbs such as sarpagandha, arjuna, and ashwagandha.

If you have tried everything that has been discussed above and this has not resulted to lowering your high blood pressure. It is time to go and see your doctor. Your doctor knows what type of medication you should take for your high blood pressure. There are many different kinds of antihypertensive drugs that may be prescribed. However, this may also have side effects.

The major types of medication used to control high blood pressure include:

• Thiazide diuretics. These medications act on your kidneys to help your body eliminate sodium and water, reducing blood volume. Thiazide diuretics are often the first — but not the only — choice in high blood pressure medications. In a 2006 study, diuretics were a key factor in preventing heart failure associated with high blood pressure.
• Beta-blockers. These medications reduce the workload on your heart, causing your heart to beat slower and with less force. When prescribed alone, beta-blockers don't work as well in blacks — but they're effective when combined with a thiazide diuretic.
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. These medications help relax blood vessels by blocking the formation of a natural chemical that narrows blood vessels. ACE inhibitors may be especially important in treating high blood pressure in people with coronary artery disease, heart failure or kidney failure. Like beta blockers, ACE inhibitors don't work as well in blacks when prescribed alone, but they're effective when combined with a thiazide diuretic.
• Angiotensin II receptor blockers. These medications help relax blood vessels by blocking the action — not the formation — of a natural chemical that narrows blood vessels. Like ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers often are useful for people with coronary artery disease, heart failure and kidney failure.
• Calcium channel blockers. These medications help relax the muscles of your blood vessels. Some slow your heart rate. Calcium channel blockers may work better for blacks than do ACE inhibitors or beta blockers alone. A word of caution for grapefruit lovers, though. Grapefruit juice interacts with some calcium channel blockers, increasing blood levels of the medication and putting you at higher risk of side effects. Researchers have identified the substance in grapefruit juice that causes the potentially dangerous interaction, which may one day lead to commercial grapefruit juices that don't pose a risk of interaction. For now, however, talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you're concerned about interactions.

If you're having trouble reaching your blood pressure goal with combinations of the above medications, your doctor may prescribe:

• Alpha blockers. These medications reduce nerve impulses to blood vessels, reducing the effects of natural chemicals that narrow blood vessels.
• Alpha-beta blockers. In addition to reducing nerve impulses to blood vessels, alpha-beta blockers slow the heartbeat to reduce the amount of blood that must be pumped through the vessels.
• Central-acting agents. These medications prevent your brain from signaling your nervous system to increase your heart rate and narrow your blood vessels.
• Vasodilators. These medications work directly on the muscles in the walls of your arteries, preventing the muscles from tightening and your arteries from narrowing.

Once your blood pressure is under control, your doctor may add aspirin to your regimen to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disorders.