Integrative Treatment of Hypertension: A Clinical and Mechanistic Approach PDF

Preface

The epidemic of hypertension affects about 1 billion people worldwide. In the United States alone, some 90 million people have this disease. It is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and kidney disease. Although it is mostly a disease of the elderly, with current trends toward obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and poor diets, it is increasingly becoming a disease of the young too. An ever-increasing portion of medical budgets is allocated to its treatment, often making many drug companies quite profitable. Clever advertising and prudent public relations are the driving factors in the popularity of many drugs, despite the fact that most other drugs of the same class have near indistinguishable efficacy and side effects.Yet, despite the apparent popularity of many drugs, no patient really wants to take them. In fact, most patients, especially the younger ones, bargain and plead for more time or alternative treatments. Initially, medication is resisted by everyone, and for good reason, as it usually leads to many others along with dreaded side effects.

Unfortunately, most Western physicians are not trained in alternative treatments of disease. Although medical educators are beginning to address this shortcoming in their curriculum, pharmaceutical-based treatments are still the mainstay of therapy. This is the result of the major and most publicized studies being of this nature, which often are financed by the industry itself. And yet, natural remedies have been used for much longer, often having time-honored success and fewer to no side effects. Their cost is a fraction of the contemporary and competing drugs, but more important, patients gravitate to their use. People often describe natural remedies as healthier alternatives with no side effects. People seem to be empowered by their use, with a sense of taking back control of their health. It is no wonder that an increasing number of public media outlets are promoting these natural treatments. The demand is clearly there. All physicians, especially primary care doctors, are constantly challenged by their patients to provide alternative methods of treatment. Unfortunately, most do not and cannot acquiesce—not out of lack of willingness, but due to a lack of knowledge and reliable information.

Integrative Treatment of Hypertension: A Clinical and Mechanistic Approach is a book that offers an alternative approach to treating hypertension. The author is a board certified internist and nephrologist with a busy community practice as well as a Harvard trained doctor of chemistry, and therefore is in a position to integrate mainstream pharmacological medicine with alternative treatments. The author understands the needs of the medical community, both in terms of medical standards and patients' needs. Alternative treatment methods are meticulously analyzed based on data from respected medical journals to determine their efficacy. This book brings these methods into the realm of acceptance by the standards of the medical community, and provides sound mechanisms of action and practical implementation advice. Its evolution began at the behest of individual patients for alternative ways of treating hypertension and ultimately coalesced into a comprehensive book. Integrative Treatment of Hypertension is a unique work that fills a needed niche within the medical community and will no doubt be a welcomed companion to any health care provider.

This book has nine chapters but can be broadly divided into three sections. The first section has four chapters, which include a short introduction to hypertension, a detailed yet simple explanation of the mechanisms of blood pressure and hypertension, concise descriptions of several common causes of hypertension, and a review of standard medications used in treating hypertension and their side effects. The second section has four chapters and describes in detail alternative methods of treating hypertension. Emphasis is placed on mechanisms of action, similarities to standard medications, and practical advice on implementing these methods. This section describes dietary factors in treating hypertension, a review of several alternative yet common diets, the efficacy of nonconsumptive methods in treating hypertension, and descriptions of natural supplements in treating hypertension. The last section contains one chapter that outlines the guidelines for blood pressure goals, categorizes each method of hypertension treatment (medicines and alternative methods) into two broad groups (either anti-renin–angiotensin system or anti-salt/volume system), and suggests ways of implementing an integrative approach to hypertension treatment.

The book is directed toward the medical community, although the intelligent and interested reader will also appreciate it. Physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and medical residents will benefit from its content. Although its content is derived from mainstream and accepted medical journals, the proposed alternative treatments are by no means a substitute for standard medical practice or for common sense. As hypertension is the precursor of most cardiovascular disease, guidance from a trained health care provider is essential in its proper treatment.

Blush, Joel A.