Hypertension is a very common disease, in U.S.A. there are almost 50 million peoples suffering from it, with an arterial pressure over 140-90. Above 60 years it's common that one person out of two is affected by hypertension, and for that it has to be considered one of the most widespread diseases of today's world.
Black people, elderly and men are the most affected subjects.
Hypertension has a tendency to grow up with ageing, and mortality increases as blood pressure rates do.
This blood pressure raising could be related, according to Sealey, to the reduction of renal glomeruli, due to ageing or ischemia, which may cause a lower excretion of sodium.
The increasing of the body amount of sodium, in old subjects with hypertension, suggests that in those patients a reduction of sodium could be very useful.
For a 35 with a blood pressure of 120 - 80 the life expecting is 74 years, but with a pressure of 150 -100 it reduces to 55 years.
Mortality heavily increases if the diastolic pressure is over 105 mmHg. A diastolic pressure of 5, 7 or 10 mmHg lower than normal values may decrease the ictus incidence risk by 34%, 46% and 56% respectively, and the risk of coronary disease of 21%, 29% and 37%, respectively.
Damages caused by hypertension are to be found in every organ: at head level there are intracranical hemorrhage and thrombosis, at hearth level coronary-sclerosis, myocardial infarct, angina pectoris, hearth failure, sudden death, left ventricular hypertrophy; at kidneys level there are renal insufficiency and glomerulus' sclerosis, in large arteries, aortal aneurismal, desiccant aneurismal, carotid and renal stenosis, peripheral arterial disease, and in the eyes, retinal disease.
Classification of bloody pressure in adults, over 18:
Bloody pressure (mmHg)
Category Systolic Diastolic Optimal <120 <80 Normal <130 <85 Normal-high 130-139 85-89 Hypertension:
1st stadium 140-159 90-99 2nd stadium 160-179 100-109 3rd stadium <180 <110 In the treatment of hypertension is always necessary a modification of the life habits.
For many years the experts had advised:
- reduction of the body weight
- reduction of salt
- physical exercise
- alcohol limitation
- saturated fats reduction
According to more accredited authors:
The critical factors are the loss of body weight and a strictly sodium reduction.
Further advices:
- Potassium surpluses
- Smoking elimination
- Caffeine use restriction
- Elimination of those drugs having a hypertensive action (contraceptives, steroids, sympathomimetics, non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
- Use of Omega3 acids.
- Reduction of body weight:
Reduction of body weight:
It is a very effective way to reduce bloody pressure: for every Kg lost the bloody pressure decreases of 1.5-2 mmHg. The ways through which the lost of weight influences the bloody pressure are different:
- reduction of free radicals
- increasing of excretion of sodium with urine
- reduction of the sympathetic system activity
- reduction of plasmatic insulin
Salt restrictions:
Comparison between 2 populations with a low sodium assumption and the western peoples:
YANOMANO PAPUA WEST. PEOPLES Sodium/day < 1mmol 6 mmol 160 mmol Sodium/Potassium <0.01 0.48 3.4 Blood pressure Systolic 95,4 107,7 118,7 Diastolic 61,4 62,9 74,0 Hypertension 0,0 0,8 17,4
As it can be seen, populations with a primitive life stile and a Paleolithic like diet are free from hypertension and don't suffer from the progressive increasing of hypertension due to ageing.
Ambard, in 1986, and Allen in 1920 shown that sodium reduction reduces arterial pressure, but most of all, Kempner, with his famous rice based diet, shown that a diet very poor in sodium could heal or prevent hypertension. Various studies have demonstrated that to obtain the maximum benefits, sodium providing should be reduced as much as possible. In hypertensives it has been found an anomalous increase of sodium in blood cells and lukocytes, due to an alteration in the sodium/potassium pump.
Restriction of sodium reduces left ventricular hypertrophy, reduces the elimination of potassium in urine, prevents damages to glomeruli (in experimental animals), reduces the hearth capacity, and induces a decreasing of peripheral resistances and that of left ventricle wall thickness.
For every one gr of sodium, 270 ml of liquids are necessary in order to maintain the internal matter isotonic.
Some authors say that for every one gr of salt over the normal value, the average diastolic pressure increases of 0.08 mmHg. The Western populations eat from 10 to 14 gr of salt per day.
According to some authors, in case of serious hypertension, sodium should be limited to 400 mgr/day.
Physical exercise:
After aerobic exercise, the pressure at rest reduces itself permanently. This is the result of 22 studies on physical exercise and bloody pressure. After exercise the subject has a persistent vasodilatation and after training bloody pressure and heartbeat frequency at rest reduce themselves.
Alcohol:
In controlled studies the alcohol providing reduction goes with an arterial pressure reduction and for that it's good to reduce alcohol to a maximum of 30 gr/day (250-350 ml of wine). Alcohol make magnesium being eliminated with urine and that seems to be responsible of the pressure increasing.
Smoking:
This factor has durable effects on pressure that lasts 15-30 minutes after the last cigarette.
The hypertensive action is imputable to nicotine, with its vasoconstrictor action and the free radicals developed in very great amounts inhaling cigarette smoke.
Free radicals destroy the nitric oxide (NO2) the most important vasodilator substance in the body.
Potassium:
Between all mammals, civilized man is the only one to follow a potassium lacking diet: cooking, manipulation, conservation, all reduce potassium amount in foods.
Epidemiological evidences exist that demonstrate an inverse relationship between potassium introduction and arterial pressure. It has also been demonstrated that potassium depletion aggravates hypertension. The beneficial effect of this substance is related to its sodium eliminating action through urine and to the increasing of vasodilator prostaglandin number, due to potassium introduction. It's been proven that potassium increasing of 10 mmol/day (730 mgr) reduces ictus incidence by 40%.
In people diet, an increasing in consumption of natural foods rich in potassium, like fruits, potatoes, soybean, beans, and a reduction of those foods rich in sodium and lacking in potassium may give high benefits. 25% of the adult population suffers from hypertension, and in elderly the incidence is over 50%.
Millions of children and teenagers are going to hypertension. Data indicate that a sodium reduction and a higher assumption of potassium may reduce the hypertension risk and could improve the life expectations and lifestyle of millions of peoples.
(Menneely).
Preferred foods:
Raw fruit up to 6 meals per day, nuts, dried apricots, dried figs, raisings, dried plums, raw or boiled greens, potatoes, legumes (beans, lentils, broad beans, peas), wholesome cereals (pasta, bread, wholesome and without salt and added fats), unpolished rice, soybean (all types of food containing it), fish, skim milk, hard boiled egg albumen, oats flakes, soy flakes, grain flakes, and all the foods rich in magnesium, potassium, vitamins, fibers and poor in sodium.
Drink mineral water poor in sodium.
IT'S OVERALL IMPORTAT TO HAVE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE CALORIES TAKEN AND THOSE CONSUMED.
