[LifeSyle] Activists help get away from blood pressure medications

[LosT贼]

 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Patients with high blood pressure can dispense pressure-reducing medications within 16 weeks by making lifestyle changes, a new US study shows.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina and presented its findings to the annual conference of the American Heart Association in Chicago.

To monitor the effectiveness of lifestyle changes including healthy eating and regular exercise, and their role in reducing high blood pressure, the team monitored 129 overweight and obese men and women aged 40 to 80 with high blood pressure.

The blood pressure rates among the participants ranged from 130-160 / 80-99 mmHg (unit of blood pressure measurement), while the normal blood pressure rate was 120/80 mmHg.

The researchers subjected participants to one of three interventions for 16 weeks, and participants in the first group changed the content of their diet, followed the Dash diet, and participated in an exercise program three times a week.

The participants in the second group only changed the diet, with a focus on the Dash diet without a sports program, while the third group did not change their eating habits, and the participants in the three groups did not take any blood pressure medications.

The Dash diet focuses on eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat foods, while urging the avoidance of high-calorie, high-fat, sweets, red meat and low salt intake.

After the study period, the researchers found that the group that followed the Dash diet in addition to the program of weight management and sports, weighed about 8.6 kilograms, and also decreased blood pressure by 16 mmHg in systolic pressure and 10 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure.

The second group, which followed only the Dash diet, had a lower blood pressure of 11 millimeters of mercury in systolic pressure and 8 millimeters of mercury in diastolic blood pressure, compared with the third.

At the end of the study, only 15 percent of those who changed their diet and exercise habits needed antihypertensive drugs, compared with 23 percent in the group that changed only their diet.

The researchers said their study demonstrated that "lifestyle adjustments, including healthy eating and regular exercise, can significantly reduce the number of patients who need a drug that lowers blood pressure."

"These lifestyle modifications will be extremely useful for people with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease," they added.

High blood pressure leads to serious health complications, including heart attacks, angina, strokes, kidney failure, preeclampsia, and blindness due to eye tissue damage.

 Researchers at the University of Rush Medical Center in Chicago, in a report published in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neuroscience, that older people with high blood pressure are at risk of brain disease.

They also found a link between high blood pressure and the appearance of signs of Alzheimer's disease and brain entanglements.

"We wanted to see what kind of impact it might have on the brain," study author Zoe Arvanitakis said.

“We looked at whether late-life blood pressure was associated with signs of brain aging, including plaques and entanglements associated with Alzheimer's disease, brain lesions called infarctions, and areas of dead tissue caused by blood clogging, which can increase with age and often are not. Discoverable and can lead to stroke. ”