Hypertension - what can you do?

Why have I got high blood pressure?

The doctors will tell you that you have either primary or secondary hypertension. Hypertension is generally diagnosed when a systolic pressure greater than 139 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure of greater than 89 mmHg.

90-95% of people have primary hypertension, i.e. high blood pressure not due to an identifiable cause such as kidney disease. In other words, most people have high blood pressure for no particular reason apart from age. There is some evidence that hypertension can be genetic, but it is certain that environmental factors influence blood pressure. Lowering your salt, alcohol and fat intake, taking more exercise and losing weight all lower your blood pressure. From a medical perspective, stress plays a minor part in hypertension,(see www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3392078 ). This is contrary to both popular opinion and research ( see www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9894438 ), but makes sense - what sort of stress lowering prescription could your doctor make, after all? Telling you to retire from your job, divorce your husband or abandon your children is never going to become mainstream medical advice, and even if it did, these actions are likely to produce even more stress!

So what is the answer to hypertension?

Your first step has to be to make sure that your physical life is as healthy as it can be. Exercise, diet, weight loss - these all need to examined and adjusted.

Your next step has to be to visit your homeopath. There are more than 100 different remedies for hypertension, and they are all designed to treat the individual. In other words, if you have hypertension due to your problems with your boss, or because of financial issues, or a relationship breakdown, then we might have the remedy for you. We can certainly give you some help in identifying the areas where you experience most stress, and discuss ways of resolving problematic situations. And you can take homeopathic remedies alongside drugs prescribed by your doctor, so you can address your hypertension medically and holistically at the same time.