HOMEOPATHY & HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Do you know that two out of six people will die of heart disease? Or, six out of ten men over the age of 30 may have signs of heart disease? Yet, the irony is many of us continue to disregard our body signals. The result is ‘invited’ trouble sooner than one would think. The saving grace, however, is high blood pressure [hypertension], including heart disease, in today’s world, are manageable issues; besides, they can be prevented, and also reversed, with timely treatment.

WHAT RESEARCH SAYS

A multitude of risk factors plays a role in the development of heart disease — for example, cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, stress, obesity, high blood cholesterol, homocysteine, high blood pressure and diabetes. These factors are controllable and not controllable. If, for instance, you have any two of any of the following risk factors — high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and cigarette smoking — the chances that you will have a heart attack are four times greater than if you have none. On the other hand, if you have all the three major controllable risk factors — high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking — the chance is eight times more.

One can ‘control’ the three major risk factors — viz., diabetes, obesity and sedentary lifestyle —as also other accompanying factors, such as type ‘A’ personality, aside from aggression, certain medical conditions and medications. However, there are factors that are not under our control: male susceptibility, family history and increased age.

The best way to reduce the risk of heart disease is by minimising the risk factors. Besides, one would do well to quit smoking, avoid alcohol, restrict salt usage, limit calorie intake, exercise regularly, reduce emotional stress, get investigated and monitored for hypertension, elevated fat, cholesterol and other factors.

The first step should be aimed to lower your blood pressure — the higher your blood pressure, the greater is your risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney disease. More importantly, if any of your close relatives have had high blood pressure, at an early age, you should also have your blood pressure monitored on a regular basis.

HOMEOPATHY: THE SAFE, EFFECTIVE ADJUVANT TREATMENT FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Homeopathy is mind-body medicine. It works best as an adjuvant, or supportive treatment, for high blood pressure, based on the individual's overall personality. It also advocates appropriate exercise, leisure/relaxation patterns and behaviours. In so doing, it calms down the individual’s innate behaviour, which may sometimes be suppressed for a long time. This ‘suppressive’ effect may be one of the likely prompts for high blood pressure and heart disease.

The prospective outcome of the homeopathic approach is not limited to the waning of pathological signs too. Rather, it involves achieving a complete, on-going physical and psychological well-being for the long-term.

Homeopathy advocates a relationship of directness and communication to exist between the individual and the doctor. It also suggests that one should not stop or adjust their allopathic medications, without first consulting their conventional physician.

In a double-blind randomised clinical study, a group of people suffering from mild-to-moderate hypertension were enrolled. The study compared individualised homoeopathic therapy with placebo [dummy pill]. Successful results were obtained with 82 per cent of individuals using homoeopathy compared with 57 per cent of those using placebo.  

In another study, a group of people suffering from mild cardiac insufficiency [inadequate blood flow to the heart muscles] were given Cralonin, a homoeopathic combination product, or a combination of an ACE inhibitor and diuretic, a combination conventional medical therapy generally prescribed for this condition. Both products were similarly effective in controlling the condition. — Source: Schroder D, Weiser M, Klein P. “Efficacy of a Homeopathic Crataegus Preparation Compared with Usual Therapy for Mild Cardiac Insufficiency: Results of an Observational Cohort Study.” — European Journal of Heart Failure, 2003, June, 5, 3, 319-26.

CONCLUSION

Homeopathy can play a useful role in preventative cardiac care, in conjunction with conventional [allopathic] medicine. In many cases of hypertension, where blood pressure control, with conventional medications is incomplete, the individual may be at risk of possible complications. Homeopathy, in such instances  — although not in extremely acute, life-threatening cases — can play a complementary role in achieving effective control of hypertension, and other cardiac concerns, along with appropriate lifestyle changes.