Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

I guess that’s the attitude many Americans have because as HealthDay News reports only a fraction of the people with high blood pressure are following a healthy diet. Granted, it’s the diet prescribed by the standard American healthcare system, but still. Ed Edelson explains:

The fact that so few people with hypertension -- just 22 percent in the group studied -- are following some simple dietary measures indicates a breakdown somewhere in the American health-care system, said lead researcher Dr. Philip Mellen, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.


"We don't know where it broke down," Mellen said. "We don't know whether their physicians have been telling them to do it or whether physicians don't feel they know enough to counsel them. We have evidence from other sources that there are problems all along the chain..."

…Mellen's study, which was to be presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, focused on people who had been told they had high blood pressure.

"Presumably, the guidelines should have prescribed their lifestyle changes," Mellen said. "They did not. Presumably, this would mean that changes in the population have overwhelmed the DASH diet recommendations."

Are you surprised by this? I’m not. And here’s why. Remember this quote from last fall. From Will America Ever Eat Better:

Who the hell cares about the veggies anyway? You don't need them and there is absolutely nothing essential about them. Don't let the acculturated veggie sympathizers tell you otherwise.

Whoa! Can you say, “Grow up!” Now, in Eat to Live Dr. Fuhrman acknowledges many of us are creatures of comfort food and will continue to eat poorly—no matter what:

The “good life” will continue to bring most Americans to a premature grave. I do not expect the majority of individuals to live this healthfully. However, they should at least make that decision being aware of the facts rather than having their food choices shaped by inaccurate information or the food manufacturers. Some people will choose to smoke cigarettes, eat unhealthfully, or pursue other reckless habits. They have that inalienable right to live their lives the way they choose.

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Okay, I guess if obesity is a worldwide epidemic—which it is—then it would make sense if high blood pressure was also running rampant. And today, the Associated Press reports 1 billion people across the world have high blood pressure. Take a look:

It's not just a problem for the ever-fattening Western world. Even in parts of Africa, high blood pressure is becoming common.

That translates into millions of deaths from heart disease alone. Yet hypertension doesn't command the attention of, say, bird flu, which so far has killed fewer than 200 people.

"Hypertension has gone a bit out of fashion," says Dr. Jan Ostergren of Sweden's Karolinska University Hospital, co-author of a first-of-its-kind analysis of the global impact of high blood pressure.

The idea: to rev up world governments to fight bad blood pressure just as countries have banded together in the past to fight infectious diseases.

International heart specialists welcome the push.

"Even in the U.S., the majority of people with high blood pressure are not treated adequately," says Dr. Sidney Smith of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who advises the World Heart Federation. "Look at China, look at Africa, go around the world. It is a major risk factor."

Here’s the weird part—maybe there’s more. Because according to Dr. Fuhrman you might have high blood pressure, even if your doctor says you’re fine. Here’s why. Check out this previous post, Your Doctor Lied: You Do Have High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol:

I know you were told that if your blood pressure is below 140/90, it is normal. Unfortunately, this is not true, either. It is average - not normal. This number is used because it is the midpoint of adult Americans older than sixty. The risk for strokes and heart attacks starts climbing at 115/70.


In societies where we do not see high rates of heart disease and strokes, we don't see blood pressure increase with age. In rural China the healthy elderly had the same low blood pressure readings as they did when they were kids. Almost all Americans have blood pressure that is unhealthfully high. At a minimum, we should consider blood pressure higher than 125/80 abnormal.

Numerous scientific investigations have shown that the following interventions have some degree of effectiveness in lowering blood pressure.1

Continue Reading...

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Here’s one of those “uh duh” news stories. It seems most Americans don’t have their high blood pressure under control. Steven Reinberg of HealthDay News reports:

Although most Americans with high blood pressure are taking steps to combat the potentially deadly condition, only 30 percent have it under control, a new federal study found.


That means the 70 percent of adults with uncontrolled high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, must do more to bring those levels down, including changing their diet, exercising and sticking to their drug regimens.

If they don't, they face an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, according to the study authors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Most people with high blood pressure (98.1 percent) are doing something to lower it," said lead author Clark Denny, an epidemiologist with the CDC. "But there is still room for improvement.

"Almost everyone with high blood pressure can have it controlled through medication and lifestyle change," he added.

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