The World 01_31_18

NATURAL HEALTH CORNER | JOSHUA SINGER
Are you aware of the
new guidelines for
hypertension, or high
blood pressure? This
is the fi rst comprehensive set of
new guidelines since 2003, now
lowering the defi nition of high
blood pressure and accounting for nearly half of
the U.S. adult population. (I was very surprised
too to see this percentage in my research.)
This will mostly be affecting younger people,
tripling the diagnosis for men under the age of
45 and doubling for women under 45 years old.
I understand this change in defi nition to be a
proactive approach to reducing cardiovascular
risk, not necessarily suggesting all those of us
with certain numbers get on medication. This
change will more assertively encourage us to
take action with lifestyle changes that are known
to reduce blood pressure.
NEW GUIDELINES FOR HYPERTENSION
Blood pressure categories in the new guidelines are:
• Normal: Less than 120/80 mm Hg;
• Elevated: Systolic between 120-129 and diastolic less
than 80;
• Stage 1: Systolic between 130-139 or diastolic between
80-89;
• Stage 2: Systolic at least 140 or diastolic at least 90 mm
Hg;
• Hypertensive crisis: Systolic over 180 and/or diastolic
over 120.
If you aren’t clear on these terms, “systolic” is the top
number in a blood pressure reading and is the maximum
pressure your heart exerts while beating. “Diastolic” is the
lower number and is the amount of pressure in your arteries
between beats. So, to further clarify, blood pressure is
the force of blood pushing against the vessel walls. When
it is considered high, there may often be no specific symptoms
until it becomes severe. When it is critical, one may
experience headaches, shortness of breath and nosebleeds.
Hypertension can be primary, without any seeming cause,
or it may be secondary, caused by an underlying reason
like kidney disease, thyroid imbalance, medications, or
illegal drug use such as cocaine.
YOU MAY HAVE SOME SAY IN THE MATTER
There are some understood risk factors that are controllable,
some more easily than others. For example, having
excessive weight on your body makes it harder for your
heart to pump oxygen rich blood and nutrients throughout
your body. So then more blood needs to be delivered to the
tissues and this increased volume puts greater pressure on
the artery walls to get the job done. Being inactive leads
Making the Medicine Easier to Swallow
Parents have recently asked me a spoonful
of questions about how to get their
children to take pills or medicine. Let
me see if I can provide a few hints that will go
down easily.
First of all, be positive when giving medication
to your child. If you imply that taking
medicine is not a pleasant experience, your
child will feel the same way.
Check the flavor of a liquid medicine
before you agree to go that route versus a pill.
When giving a liquid to a young child, you
can use a medicine syringe or dropper. Just
squirt the medicine on one side of the mouth
to avoid taste buds on the tongue as much as
possible.
Giving your child a choice of how to take
the medicine may help. Numbing the taste
buds with a popsicle or ice chips can reduce
any sense of an unpleasant taste. Another idea
is to mix the medicine with a strong flavor
like chocolate pudding or vanilla yogurt,
applesauce or ice cream. (Just ask your child’s
health care professional first.)
Pills, for children who can take them, do
have their advantages. They don’t taste bad
when swallowed – without being chewed –
and are easier to take when traveling.
That being said, if you want your child to
learn to take a pill, practice before the real
situation presents itself. One method is to
have them practice with tiny, round pieces of
candy or cake decorations. Have them put
these in the center of their tongue and then
drink their favorite liquid through a straw. As
the liquid is swallowed, the pill goes down
too.
Work up to something the size of an M&M,
to higher heart rates. The higher the heart rate, the harder
the heart is working and the greater the force on the artery
walls. It has also been seen that smoking a cigarette can raise
the blood pressure for up to an hour following inhaling the
chemicals. Smoking also almost immediately narrows the
arteries, causing an increase in pressure in these vessels.
Salt naturally causes fluid retention and can increase the
workload of the kidneys, ultimately elevating blood pressure
for those who eat too much of it. Not having enough vitamin
D from the sun has also been shown to increase the blood
pressure, again through the kidneys’ work in the body. Many
of us realize stress is a factor in blood pressure levels, with
its effect on the nervous system and hormone levels.
Here are some commonly known tips, with relative reduction
in blood pressure numbers. These are actions that can
be taken with the goal of not depending on antihypertensive
medication:
• For every 20lbs of weight lost, you can drop your systolic
blood pressure 5-20 points.
• Quitting smoking can lower your blood pressure 5-10
points.
• Getting more exercise can lower your numbers 5-15 points.
• Decreasing caffeine intake lowers your diastolic pressure
by 4-13 points.
• Decreasing alcohol intake lowers your numbers 2-4 points.
• Avoiding all processed foods lowers your numbers 10
points.
• Decreasing salt intake or stopping altogether, up to 25
points.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables (how many times have you
seen this suggested for any illness, let’s all take this step this
year!)
• Use natural remedies like ginger, cardamom or hibiscus
tea, the herb cat’s claw, enzyme CoQ10, supplement with
vitamin D, eat more watermelon, use celery seed extract, use
flaxseed powder more regularly, even a small square of dark
chocolate has been shown to lower blood pressure.
• Use regular acupuncture as part of these changes to help
manage stress, improve blood circulation through the vessels,
and reduce blood pressure.
I encourage you to do your own research, talk to your primary
care provider, a naturopathic physician, a nutritionist,
and an acupuncturist, to learn more about these suggestions.
I hope you’re aware that you have some choices you can
make and some power over hypertension if you find your
blood pressure numbers to be in the upper ranges. What a
good time of year to take some steps toward better health!
Joshua Singer is a nationally board certified and licensed
acupuncturist in private practice in Montpelier. Josh has
relocated his practice to 301 River Street in Montpelier. This
is at River Street Wellness, a collaborative team of practitioners
under one roof supporting the health care of our
community. He continues to see patients in his practice and
at National Life Cancer Treatment Center at CVMC. Josh’s
contact information is singerjoshua9@gmail.com and 802-
613-3904. Please feel free to reach out to him with suggestions
or comments at any time.
• • • For
or similar-sized candy. Then they’ll be ready
for the real thing.
Some children like to play “Beat the clock.”
They enjoy having to take the pill against a
one- or two-minute timer to show they can do
this as quickly as possible.
Praise your child when they master taking
pills. Do not criticize them if they have trouble
with it. Be matter of fact, yet firm. Avoid
a negotiation that could take hours and lead to
a stressful situation.
Hopefully tips like these will be better than
a spoonful of sugar when making the medicine
go down.
Lewis First, MD, is chief of Pediatrics at
The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital
and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at
the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine
at the University of Vermont. You can also
catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO
98.9FM and MyNBC 5, or visit the “First
with Kids”video archives at www.UVMHealth.
org/MedCenterFirstWithKids.
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January 24, 2018 The WORLD page 15