He probably is about five pounds overweight, with a spare tire around his middle. He works out about 5 days per week, including weight training three days per. He has cut back on sodium. This is why the persistent hypertension is so maddening.
Indeed frustrating.
I have a friend, a long time runner/jogger/hiker/soccer coach, who has always been trim, and always eaten relatively wisely - with raging hypertension, raging being my word. In her case it's hereditary. She's controlled it with meds.. I think she sees an internist, not specifically a cardiologist.
In addition to a good regimen of excercise and good diet, it has been shown that a "personal quiet time" in a small enclosure every day is beneficial towards reducing hypertension.
Meditation is important for our mental health; ergo, our physical health.
There's a current magazine that addresses this issue, but I forgot the name of the mag.
Anything to reduce our stress on a daily basis is good for us.
The trick, I suppose, is making it a habit to not think of the many things that can stress us out like job pressures, domestic and money problems.
Osso, CI, many thanks. Osso, did she ever get it under control. Do you have any idea of what meds helped her?
Is your family emember avoiding all salt?
Most convenience foods are terribly oversalted.
Check out:
September 2005
Cover Story
Pressure Cooker: The Scoop on Salt (Acrobat 303Kb)
July/Aug
at:
http://www.cspinet.org/nah/
You'll have to scroll down the page to find the link to the story, but the information is worth it.
Yes, Advocate, the meds did get it under control and have for years now. I don't know which meds, and can't ask her right this minute as she is travelling.
Noddy, thanks for the scoop on salt. I think the patient avoids it as much as possible, using a substitute at home. He doesn't eat a lot of processed food, but does eat out a fair amount. I guess he needs to see a cardiologist to have his arteries, etc., checked.
Advocate--
You're welcome.
The Nutrition Action newsletter has a lot of information on health and diet. Yes, they preach, but they also get the word out to the unenlightened.
Depression Sufferers Have Reason to Smile
A new treatment may help those with depression much faster than conventional medicines.
The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies revealed that the hormone drug, RU486, was shown to be a potentially rapid therapy for mental illness.
RU486 is currently available as a controversial therapy to induce abortion.
However, the same influx of hormones may play a major role in controlling depression. While most antidepressants work by signaling the chemical of serotonin in the brain, RU486 treatment is based on boosting hormone receptors in the area of the brain called the hippocampus, which is particularly susceptible to stress hormone imbalance.
Stress may interfere with the birth of new cells within hippocampus and create more intense and prolonged depressive episodes. In some cases, the hormone therapy reversed these symptoms within hours.
"It points to a rescue effect on the survival of these cells," said Paul Lucassen from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
The drug is already used for severe psychotic depression and is licensed to treat several conditions such as Cushing's disease.
CI, thanks for the good information. I read that depression can be the cause of hypertension.
I also read that a stoke, which is a typical result of hypertension, is behind a third of those becoming disabled. I mention this to emphasize the importance of controlling hypertension.
