Natural Hypertension Treatment

Natural Hypertension Treatment and You: Definition, Causes, and Treatment Options

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is prevalent in about 33.5% of the adult population aged 20 and over. In 2012, 34 million patients visited their doctors with hypertension as their chief complaint. (1)

What is Hypertension?

Blood pressure is determined by two things: the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower the arteries, the higher the blood pressure. Hypertension can be asymptomatic, but this does not mean it is not damaging. Uncontrolled hypertension can cause serious health complications, including heart attack and stroke. (2)

What Causes Hypertension?

There are two kinds of hypertension: primary (or essential) and secondary. Secondary hypertension is caused by something outside of the cardiovascular system, such as kidney or thyroid disease, sleep apnea, or chronic alcohol use. Essential hypertension is more common, and research shows that dysregulation of the nervous system is largely responsible. Specifically, the sympathetic nervous system (your “fight or flight” response) is overactive, and the parasympathetic nervous system (your “rest and digest” response) is under active. (3)(4) So what can be done?