Guest guest Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 Tue, 10 Jun 2003 14:35:35 -0500 WC Douglass The BP boogey-man Daily Dose June 10, 2003 ************************************************************** Blood pressure baloney - part 1 Everyone knows I hate to say, " I told you so. " Honestly, I do. All it means is that nobody in the mainstream listened to me the first time (or the fiftieth time) and in many cases, people are dead because of it. All the same, I wish I had a dime for every article I've written that contains a variation of the phrase: " I've been warning people about this for over 30 years! " Here's another 10 cents in my pocket: For more than three decades now, I've been telling anyone who'll listen that high blood pressure DOESN'T CAUSE HEART DISEASE. Yes, you read that right. Despite what " unbiased " conventional medicine - which generates millions from the treatment of hypertension, mind you - maintains, evidence showing a conclusive linear link between elevated blood pressure and the incidence of heart disease is almost non- existent. In fact, the data from most studies on the subject suggest that hypertension is a symptom of cardiovascular disease (CHD), not its cause. Just about everyone in the medical community agrees that CHD is due in large part to a buildup of plaque in the arteries, reducing their diameter - which in turn causes the blood which flows through them to increase in pressure. Here's a good analogy: When you turn on the spigot outside your house, the water shooting out of your garden hose squirts 30 feet or more. Why? Because it's under a lot of pressure after being forced into a tiny 1-inch hose... But what would happen if that hose were, say, a foot in diameter? The exact same volume of water would slosh out at a very low pressure. It's the same way with your heart and arteries. Your blood pressure increases in response to arterial constriction - it doesn't cause the constriction. Elevating the blood's pressure is your heart's way of compensating for clogged up " hoses " to make sure your organs, brain and extremities are adequately supplied with blood. When you look at it this way, it just doesn't make sense to try to artificially lower your blood pressure using expensive, potentially harmful prescription drugs. Unfortunately, this entirely natural process is treated by mainstream medicine as a " cause " of CHD, while the real causes of arterial clogging - things like dietary trans-fatty acids in the bloodstream or chlorine " scarring " of the arterial walls - often go untreated... With deadly consequences, unfortunately. (I'll have more to say about the fads, fashion, and facts of hypertension drugs in the next Daily Dose.). ************************************************************** The new " buzz " on stroke damage control... I've told you before about the benefits of consuming moderate amounts of alcohol and caffeinated beverages (like coffee), but this latest slice of mainstream vindication is almost too good to be true: It seems that researchers have recently discovered that a new medication made from a " cocktail " of caffeine and alcohol can actually reduce the severity of stroke-related brain damage by up to 80 percent. According to recent article in New Scientist, a specific combination of these two " vices " has been demonstrated to function in a powerful neuro-protective capacity when given to laboratory animals following artificially induced strokes... But success on rats and success in people are two different things - mainly because humans are sometimes unable to safely tolerate the same levels of experimental medicines that animal studies have shown effective. However, neurologists from the University of Texas-Houston Medical School have initiated a small pilot study using smaller doses of the new " caffeinol " drug in human patients who've suffered ischaemic strokes - and the findings are very encouraging. Does this mean stroke victims can simply slurp an Irish coffee every day - and enjoy a nice caffeine and alcohol buzz while they stave off further brain damage? I don't think so. But it does mean that at least some mainstream scientists are looking at ordinary substances many of us consume every day in a new light... Next thing you know, they will be saying tobacco is good for you. Well, they - and I - have already done that. In an earlier Daily Dose ( " Not just blowing smoke, " 11/1/02), I wrote about " Angiogenix, " a nicotine-based treatment that appears to grow new blood vessels in the heart... Looking out for what's really harmful, William Campbell Douglass II, MD ************************************************************** Copyright ©1997-2003 by www.realhealthnews.com, L.L.C. 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