Where to go for high blood pressure

[Kitsune]

Hypertension, certainly in my case, is often hereditary. Working out and being "fit" or slim has nothing to do with it. I have been on BP meds since I was 25. See a doctor, get meds, take meds, live long.

Hypertension is diet

[SGX]

Hypertension, certainly in my case, is often hereditary. Working out and being "fit" or slim has nothing to do with it. I have been on BP meds since I was 25. See a doctor, get meds, take meds, live long.

Hypertension is diet

Far too often Doctors are viewed as Demi Gods and the advice given goes unchallenged. It appears to me that you have locked in that view for your health therefore you will always have it . No offence, but You have convinced yourself that you have the " Noun " Hypertension therefore nothing will change . If you where to believe that you where in the stage of Hypertension (Adjective) your body would pass through this period, and you would be closer to better health. By simply changing the view from Noun to Adjective of the situation this will assist in rebalancing or electrical energies in your body. You will also find that given your long periods of medication your body will be suffering other medical issues.

[Brightonman]

Total Cholesterol of 204 is of no importance provided the LDL and HDL are both within normal range. It is the LDL and HDL that are important, what were they?

Triglycerides are too high. Try diet + lifestyle changes, wt loss but if unsuccessful may need meds.

I am sorry Sheryl I should have looked at the letter they gave me instead of going on memory.

Here are my real readings: Suggested healthy range

Sugar 106 mg/dl 70-100

Creatinine 1.01 mg/dl 0.73-1.18

eGFR 83.9 ml/min/1.73m2

Cholesterol 204 mg/dl <200

Triglycerides 174 mg/dl 0-150

HDL-C 41 mg/dl <40 major risk factor for heart disease >60 neg risk factor

LDL - Cholesterol 128.2 mg/dl <130

ALK PHOS 83 40-150

SGPT 22 <55

I am not overweight. I am 6ft 1in/185cm tall and about 12 1/2 stone or 78kgs. My waist is 34 inches and has been most of my life. I have been walking 2 or 3 kms home from the MRT 5 nights a week and go to the gym when I can.

[Kalbo]

Hypertension, certainly in my case, is often hereditary. Working out and being "fit" or slim has nothing to do with it. I have been on BP meds since I was 25. See a doctor, get meds, take meds, live long.

wow, what part is hereditary ? if meds work for you good luck

my internal medicine steamed veggies daily . I have never taken meds, and will never need too . I wouldnt know the feeling of ever being sick cough, high blood pressure etc , thats for other people. My internals perfect order.

What wonderful news ! I'm going to be sniggering a little when an obviously marvelously healthy person such as yourself actually dies of 'nothing'.

Everyone dies......

My point exactly

[mommysboy]

Total Cholesterol of 204 is of no importance provided the LDL and HDL are both within normal range. It is the LDL and HDL that are important, what were they?

Triglycerides are too high. Try diet + lifestyle changes, wt loss but if unsuccessful may need meds.

I am sorry Sheryl I should have looked at the letter they gave me instead of going on memory.

Here are my real readings: Suggested healthy range

Sugar 106 mg/dl 70-100

Creatinine 1.01 mg/dl 0.73-1.18

eGFR 83.9 ml/min/1.73m2

Cholesterol 204 mg/dl <200

Triglycerides 174 mg/dl 0-150

HDL-C 41 mg/dl <40 major risk factor for heart disease >60 neg risk factor

LDL - Cholesterol 128.2 mg/dl <130

ALK PHOS 83 40-150

SGPT 22 <55

I am not overweight. I am 6ft 1in/185cm tall and about 12 1/2 stone or 78kgs. My waist is 34 inches and has been most of my life. I have been walking 2 or 3 kms home from the MRT 5 nights a week and go to the gym when I can.

Sugar level a bit high but still ok, may just be a one off too.

The thing with the BP medicine, there's no saying that you wouldn't have returned back to normal reading anyway. My brother had much the same predicament, it turned out the thought of having high blood pressure was the main driver.

Whenever I have my BP taken it ranges from 115/70 to 155/90.

[mommysboy]

Hypertension, certainly in my case, is often hereditary. Working out and being "fit" or slim has nothing to do with it. I have been on BP meds since I was 25. See a doctor, get meds, take meds, live long.

wow, what part is hereditary ? if meds work for you good luck

my internal medicine steamed veggies daily . I have never taken meds, and will never need too . I wouldnt know the feeling of ever being sick cough, high blood pressure etc , thats for other people. My internals perfect order.

What wonderful news ! I'm going to be sniggering a little when an obviously marvelously healthy person such as yourself actually dies of 'nothing'.

dumb comment, we all die, Just note I enjoy my food and as result i have zero down time with anything medical. My comment was to reinforce the fact that you can successfully navigate most sickness known.

"My comment was to reinforce the fact that you can successfully navigate most sickness known".

Yes, or die of it.

But it is true some people just have very lucky genetic make up, including a well tuned immune system. And equally true that most of us are just genetically disposed to a major problem that will eventually put us in the box. Somebody born in a family where people tend to live to 75-80, or so and where there is no history of early heart disease, lung cancer, bowel cancer, etc. will likely live to an old age. I doubt that positive thinking, the latest fad diet, or an exercise regime will make a lot of difference.

Composition of diet!- importand only so far imo. And obviously important to avoid ruinous 3 pack a day habits.

[mommysboy]

A recent study has shown that a sodium free diet can be as harmful as a high one. It was suggested people with high blood pressure simply cut their sodium intake by half. Along with exercise stopping smoking and reduction or elimination of alcohol, of course.

Another study into the Japanese diet showed that those eating around two servings of Miso soup were 3.5 times LESS likely to suffer a heart attack/stroke than their Japanese counterparts. The scientists concluded that although Miso has a high sodium content it also supports the ingestion of potassium, calcium and magnesium essential to maintaining healthy levels of blood pressure, whilst anti HBP meds simply flush everything out.

Living in Thailand is impossible to eat the local food unless prepared by yourself. Bottle of nam pla in everything, and I love their takeaways

It's a vital electrolyte, you are done without it. Thailand is so hot, you get through a lot of sodium if you are active.

I look at the sodium issue another way, if you have high sodium levels it might indicate you are not burning enough energy, ie, not exercising on a regular basis, or simply not pottering around enough. So the real reason for disease is that people are not exercising , not that sodium levels are high. Cause vs association.

[dageurreotype]

I don't think your BP is so high yet, and white coat syndrome is a common cause.

When BP is high, posters come on advising eradicating salt but this is not good advice in a hot country imho.

Besides any change effected by diet is likely to have a small effect, and BP does naturally increase with age.

I've heard this from a health food supplier who works with the local muay thai camps here.

As to diet, I do believe it has a substantial effect on BP. Mine went down from 166/94 to to 144/74 in just five days after I'd stopped adding salt. I don't eat convenience foods and always check the labels for sodium content, the higher up the list it is the more content. However, had to substitute Japanese and Indian food for Thai, Thai needing sodium in the form of nam pla to make up the essential four ingredients, sweet/salt/hot/sour to make it.

However, cutting out booze probably helped also. I recently watched a documentary whereby two young doctors, identical twins so no genetic bias, underwent an experiment on binge drinking. One twin drank the suggested 3 units per day, the other drank the entire allotment in one sitting. Their hearts where then monitored and showed the one binge drinking had a substantially faster heart rate. They'd both drank the same amount of liquid, the twin drinking moderately drank fruit juice to match quantity of binge drinking twin and both urinated into bottles which showed they'd both excreted the same amount of liquid. Which proved the 'dehydration' effect a myth. The drinking of fruit juice or water with the alcohol simply waters the alcohol content down.

Therefore, cut sodium intake by half together with alcohol intake and have your blood pressure taken again.

Edited July 11, 2015 by dageurreotype

[mommysboy]

Maybe you just relaxed, alcohol prevents real relaxation. As to the salt, bit of an assumption that.

[csabo]

Hypertension, certainly in my case, is often hereditary. Working out and being "fit" or slim has nothing to do with it. I have been on BP meds since I was 25. See a doctor, get meds, take meds, live long.

Hypertension is diet

Far too often Doctors are viewed as Demi Gods and the advice given goes unchallenged. It appears to me that you have locked in that view for your health therefore you will always have it . No offence, but You have convinced yourself that you have the " Noun " Hypertension therefore nothing will change . If you where to believe that you where in the stage of Hypertension (Adjective) your body would pass through this period, and you would be closer to better health. By simply changing the view from Noun to Adjective of the situation this will assist in rebalancing or electrical energies in your body. You will also find that given your long periods of medication your body will be suffering other medical issues.

If you believe in electrical energies (as nouns adjectives or whatever) with regards to health, you are an idiot.

[Sheryl]

Since most basic foods contain at least some sodium, there is no such thing as a sodium-free diet. However, people who consume a lot of processed foods, junk food etc are ingesting massive quantities of sodium (along with various chemicals) and this is not healthy.

Some people with hypertension are very sensitive to sodium, others are not.

Avoiding processed foods (junk food/canned or frozen foods etc) and not going overboard on adding salt is good advice for anyone. For people who are hypertensive, a trial of no added salt (or adding less salt) is a good idea. Some people respond dramatically, others do not. But no need to worry about the naturally occurring sodium in fresh foods.

Unless one is sweating copiously or having diarrhea, sodium needs are readily met through food with no need to add further salt. If you are sweating a lot (or have diarrhea) then a little added salt is wise.

[lopburi3]

For anyone concerned with sodium you might want to avoid Bangkok tap water supply for the time being. Has become undrinkable for me and had to buy RO system to continue using (hate plastic bottles/trash). But really did not notice any increase in blood pressure readings when trying to drink the salty water so agree with above - for some may be a big issue - for others not so much. For myself anxiety seems to be a key factor - and why measurement at home is so important. As pretty as the doctor may be - those white coats do cause concern.

[brewsterbudgen]

For anyone concerned with sodium you might want to avoid Bangkok tap water supply for the time being. Has become undrinkable for me and had to buy RO system to continue using (hate plastic bottles/trash). But really did not notice any increase in blood pressure readings when trying to drink the salty water so agree with above - for some may be a big issue - for others not so much. For myself anxiety seems to be a key factor - and why measurement at home is so important. As pretty as the doctor may be - those white coats do cause concern.

People drink Bangkok tap water??

[Cpkt8]

Chinese celery + red apple juice, a glass daily -helps bring down BP.

Juice taken not to replace BP medicine.

[lopburi3]

People drink Bangkok tap water??

Yes but most use simple filter - but water has met drinking standards for decades. And is one of the few systems with real time on-line reporting of water quality. But currently source water contains too much salt at high tides and there is no ability to remove with normal water processing. Not considered a danger as we will stop drinking if too salty. And for me that limit has been reached. Wife does not even taste as salty.

http://wqconline.mwa.co.th/wqc/OverviewMap.aspx?uiculture=en-US