Antidepressants Blog

The good news is that there’s plenty you can do to beat high blood pressure. And while you’re on the way, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ll be defying heart disease and stroke as well. In fact, researchers poring over data from the famed Framingham Heart Study have found that the combination of lower cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and a decline in cigarette smoking can dramatically reduce heart disease deaths. Here’s how.

Make a DASH for it. Even if you don’t already have high blood pressure, the results of a study called Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) may make you want to run to your nearby produce stand. The 11-week study compared three diets: a standard high-fat American diet, which was the control diet; a diet high in fruits and vegetables; and a “combination diet” that was low in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol, and high in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products. When it was over, the average blood pressure for the combination diet group was 5.5 millimeters of mercury systolic and 3-0 millimeters of mercury diastolic lower than the control diet group. Among those with high blood pressure, the combination diet group’s average blood pressure was 11.4 millimeters of mercury systolic and 5.5 millimeters of mercury diastolic lower than the control diet groups.

A typical day of eating from the combination platter? It consists of 7 to 8 servings of grains (as in bread or cereal); 4 to 5 servings of vegetables; 4 to 5 servings of fruits; 2 to 3 dairy products; up to 2 servings of meat, poultry, or fish; and 2 1/2 servings of fat and oils (the equivalent of 2 1/2 teaspoons of oil).

Strive for fitness. Research has also shown that the fittest guys have the lowest blood pressures and cholesterol levels. And when followed over many years, the rate of death from cardiovascular disease is higher in the least fit than in the most fit. Thirty minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times a week is a good start. And add some weight training to the mix when you’re ready for more, suggests Dr. Pickering.

Pick up the pace. If you’re a runner concerned about high blood pressure, you may want to pick up the pace. Researchers from the National Runners Health Study discovered that running faster had a 13-3 times’ greater impact on lowering blood pressure than a leisurely jog. The researchers noted that “the principle should apply to any sustained and vigorous exercise, such as cycling and swimming.”

Tame your tongue. Does talking fast raise blood pressure? Researchers measured the blood pressures and heart rates of 111 cardiac patients as they read the U.S: Constitution rapidly for two minutes, then slowly for two minutes. Rapid reading triggered a rise in the subjects’ blood pressures and heart rates, according to the study. Never forget: You have the right to remain silent.

Shake the salt. Not all the experts agree, but for now it’s probably a good idea to limit salt intake to help shake high blood pressure. It may just bring it down a few points or even prevent it. The American Heart Association recommends eating no more than 6 grams of salt a day. In case you’ve never counted, a teaspoon of salt is about 6 grams. But when tracking your salt intake, keep in mind that lots of prepared foods contain massive amounts of added salt.

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Alcohol avoidance

Alcohol aggravates the situation. Sleep study units are constantly asked to review obese, moderate to heavy-drinking males with a snoring problem. Treatment for most of these individuals is entirely in their own hands, with success being directly proportional to motivation and willpower.

Posture

A common observation made by snorers and their sleeping partners is that the condition is significantly worsened when the offender lies flat on his back. The observation has prompted several investigations into the effects of posture on snoring. Without doubt, improvement brought about by either lying to one side or by raising the head and shoulders can be attributed to the mobility of structures like the tongue and soft palate which present less of an obstruction to the airway in these positions than in the lying (supine) position. There is disagreement on the effects of posture on those patients who experience occasional complete airway closure during sleep, with some reports of significant improvement in nocturnal symptoms while others claim no improvement at all. Experimentation with various sleeping positions would have to be the simplest and one of the first modes of treatment considered by any snorer, and can be employed while other measures (such as weight loss) are being taken.

Surgery

Medical attention is justified when simple measures offer little or no improvement. Surgery is appropriate in some instances but the range of surgical techniques is as varied as the underlying causes. An operative procedure known as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, thankfully shortened to UPPP, has been employed successfully to treat heavy snoring. It involves extensive removal of soft tissue from the oropharynx but should by no means be considered minor surgery. There are conflicting reports on the efficacy of UPPP in the treatment of snoring and upper airway obstruction. There would seem to be a role for the procedure in the treatment of “uncomplicated” snoring but there is considerable disagreement on its usefulness for the sleep apnoea syndromes. In most cases, however, the severity of snoring is diminished after UPPP.

Other forms of surgery aim to either correct or remove structural anomalies which encourage snoring. Examples include mandibular reconstruction for a small or poorly positioned jaw, removal of nasal polyps and other corrective procedures to improve nasal breathing, and the removal of enlarged tonsils and adenoids in both children and adults.

Treatment of underlying disease

Occasionally, patients suffering metabolic disturbances caused by a hormonal imbalance will experience generalized symptoms such as fluid retention or excessive bone growth. Hypothyroidism (myxoedema) is one such example in which fluid retention, particularly around the neck, combined with a decrease in muscle tone, promotes snoring. Specific medication is the cure for hypothyroidism and associated snoring.

Other devices

Mouth appliances, inserted like a mouth guard, are now available which force the user to breathe through the nose by occluding the mouth, thereby bypassing the upper segment of the soft palate. These devices may well work for some but are unlikely to help where a large proportion of the upper airway is prone to collapse or if there are coexisting structural impediments to breathing below the nasopharynx. They are not recommended for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea.

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Breast pain, or mastalgia, is a symptom rather than a disease, usually of a minor breast condition but occasionally of a more serious one. Although most malignant tumours are relatively painless, the presence of breast pain does not necessarily indicate a benign condition.

Breast pain can sometimes be severe, and some women who suffer from it cannot bear to be touched or cuddled. It may be cyclical, related to the menstrual cycle and occurring before or during a period, or non-cyclical, having no obvious menstrual association.

Cyclical breast pain

Cyclical breast pain can often be relieved by taking painkillers such as aspirin, paracetamol, codeine or stronger drugs which can be prescribed by your doctor. If the breast tissue is inflamed, aspirin will help to deal with this as it has anti-inflammatory as well as pain-killing properties.

Some women find evening primrose oil an effective treatment for cyclical breast pain, and there are some convincing studies which support its use. However, there is controversy amongst members of the medical profession about whether or not this is a placebo effect – the oil itself having no medicinal properties but being effective for those who believe it will be.

For the treatment of very severe period-related breast pain, there are several hormonal agents available, including the contraceptive pill. The sex hormone progesterone can be given in its natural form as Cyclogest pessaries or as one of several synthetic derivatives known as progestogens. Natural or synthetic oestrogens can also be effective. Other drugs may be prescribed which interfere with the action of the sex hormones produced by the body, for example danazol or bromocriptine, but these can cause fluid retention and headaches and make many women feel generally unwell. They are therefore often given as a last resort for cyclical breast pain which cannot be treated by other means.

Non-cyclical breast pain

This type of breast pain is often more difficult to treat, but in many cases it does tend to improve with time. It is sometimes a symptom of a fairly common condition called Tietze’s disease, a mild form of arthritis which affects the cartilage between the ends of the ribs and the breastbone. The pain this causes in the chest wall can be mistaken for pain in the breast.

Good breast support with a well-fitting bra, aspirin, and possibly evening primrose oil may be effective in the treatment of this type of breast pain.

Non-cyclical breast pain can also be referred pain from another problem such as a frozen shoulder, a wry neck or twisted back. It can also be due to infection by a virus which attacks the muscles. These causes will have to be excluded. Nevertheless, there is often no underlying cause for non-cyclical breast pain, which can be severe.

Pain may also accompany some of the conditions described below, although other symptoms and signs are likely to be apparent.

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Historically, the prevention of disease has been the greatest and most important contribution to the health of the western world but simply to think of preventive medicine in terms of public health is far too narrow a perspective today.

The first phase of preventive medicine was indeed this rather authoritarian, organizational public health approach. It was based on the need to control infectious illnesses using environmental control imposed on people ‘for the good of the community’. In this way clean water became the norm, sewers took away waste, food was inspected and its quality improved, and pest-infested slums were cleared. All of this did wonders for life expectancy. In white women in the US life expectancy increased from 40 years in 1855 to 55 years in 1920. Almost all of this increased life-span came about because of the reduction in infant death rates. Little, if any, change was made to the longevity of those who survived to middle life. In 1855 a 45-year-old American could expect to live another 24.6 years and in 1910 the figure was 25.5 years. Hardly a stunning advance!

As well as the giant steps forward being taken in sanitation, immunology began to blossom as a medical growth area and diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, polio and smallpox came under control.

Initially this era of prevention was characterized by individual heroism and leadership together with more health laws. The amount of voluntary action on the part of the public was minimal. Certainly immunization required the individual to turn up to be vaccinated but otherwise preventive medicine was a ‘painless’ procedure that was done to an individual.

The second phase in the development of preventive medicine actually started before the ending of the first and came with the discovery of anaesthesia and antiseptics. Phase two, then, was that made possible by increasing technology and financial investment. Undoubtedly the greatest triggers to the growth of medical knowledge were the two world wars in this century. Knowledge of anaesthesia and antiseptics lay dormant until the vast number of operations done in World War I made advances necessary on an unprecedented scale. By World War II sulpha drugs (1935) and penicillin (1940) had been developed and the modern pharmaceutical industry as we know it was born. This opened up for the first time the idea of massive capital investment in the health field. In the first phase of the growth of prevention, public health measures were seen as a way of improving the nation’s strength and wealth and a way of maintaining a vigorous population which could produce goods and services in a fast-growing capitalist society. In the second phase the goal of a healthy population became obscured as the health industry took on a life of its own. Today, doctors make the financial decisions which control this vast industry and often they make them in splendid isolation-thinking only in the context of their relationship with an individual patient.

This has led to the enormous sickness industry we now see. Yet for all this so-called advance and expenditure the life-span of a five-year-old has increased by only 2.9 years since 1940. The limits to this kind of medicine are all too apparent. It has been calculated that the elimination of all cancers of the cervix, for example, as a cause of death would add only three-tenths of a year of life to that which the average woman currently enjoys. If after fifty years of screening and gynecological examinations her fate is that of many old people-to live alone in relative poverty-just how valuable are these extra three and a half months to her anyway?

The third phase of preventive medicine is now with us, as we start to consider health in the context of our environment-in short, man in his ecological setting. The excitement and drama of the last forty years’ growth in medicine is beginning to wear thin and people are beginning to look at prevention in personal terms-as something they actually have a hand in and for which they have a responsibility.

It has been calculated that more disease, disability and premature death could be prevented by eliminating alcohol and tobacco abuse and by restricting the use of cars than by any foreseeable increase in expenditure on health. But it is not true that individuals are solely to blame now that doctors can do so little to help. The medical profession can’t shrug its shoulders and say, ‘Look what we’ve done for you, you should be grateful.’ It is no new concept that the choice as to how an individual uses his or her life rests with him or her. But the fact that there is a personal responsibility for health does not absolve doctors, nurses, politicians or administrators from responsibility, nor does it free them to ignore prevention on the grounds that it is something the individual ought to be doing for him or herself.

Phase three of the story of prevention involves the individual taking the dominant role-and this is what this book is about: personal prevention.

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Essential oils: can be used for compresses to amplify the treatments, the oils can be diluted into water, olive oil, or cold pressed vegetable oils and vinegar’s. Compresses can be used hot or cold to increase the healing process.

Hot compresses: when applied can increase the blood flow which will hasten the healing process. It is used for abscesses, arthritic pain, earache, fractures, muscular spasm, chronic pain, rheumatism, reduce inflammation and to stimulate particular organs.

Hot and cold compresses: can reduce the level of blood flowing to the area which aids healing. Can be used for bruises, bumps and sprains. Always start with a hot compress and finish with a cold one.

Cold compresses: when applied can decrease the amount of blood collecting around a wound, which can reduce bruising, swelling, inflammation, acute pain, sprains and for bums or to reduce hot conditions and has a calming affect. You may alter or add to herbal compresses with vinegar, kombucha, clay or urine depending on the treatment. For more detailed information the book Water Medicine is recommended.

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