By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, January 18, 2005, abstracted from “Homocysteine and stroke: evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomization” in the January 15, 2005 issue of the Lancet
The toll that high blood pressure takes on our health is well documented in medical literature. It is now the third-leading cause of disability1 because of the role it plays in precipitating heart disease2 and kidney damage.3 These statistics have led researchers on a crusade to calculate the global burden of high blood pressure, since it would allow international public health policy makers to assign sufficient priority and resources to the management and prevention of high blood pressure.
In a new British study,4 researchers gathered the data and have officially confirmed that a high blood pressure epidemic is sweeping the globe. Researching over 30 studies from 1980 to 2002 that contained over 700,000 participants, scientists have predicted the number of people with high blood pressure will increase by more than sixty percent and afflict over 1.5 billion people by 2025. This is an increase from the 972 million people calculated to have high blood pressure in 2000.
In their conclusions, the researchers cited an immediate need to increase awareness, treatment, and control of the health risks of high blood pressure and that the best method of treatment is prevention, primarily via a change in lifestyle.
Nutritional supplementation can be a lifestyle factor that can effectively lower blood pressure. While one study found three to four grams of fish oil per day to be effective in lowering blood pressure,5 another study found 500 mg of Magnesium per day to also be effective in helping lower blood pressure.
Greg Arnold is a chiropractic physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com.
Reference:
1 M Ezzati, AD Lopez, A Rodgers, S Vander Hoorn and CJ. Murray, Selected major risk factors and global and regional burden of disease. Lancet 360 (2002), pp. 1347–1360
2 J He and PK. Whelton, Epidemiology and prevention of hypertension. Med Clin North Am 81 (1997), pp. 1077–1097
3 PK. Whelton, Epidemiology of hypertension. Lancet 344 (1994), pp. 101–106
4 Casas JP. Homocysteine and stroke: evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomization. Lancet 2005; 365(9455): 224-232
5 Geleijnse, J. M., E. J. Giltay, et al. (2002). "Blood pressure response to fish oil supplementation: metaregression analysis of randomized trials." J Hypertens 20(8): 1493-9
6 Itoh, K., T. Kawasaka, et al. (1997). "The effects of high oral magnesium supplementation on blood pressure, serum lipids and related variables in apparently healthy Japanese subjects." Br J Nutr 78(5): 737-50
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