Low Blood Pressure : is it a Health Problem?

Low blood pressure, known as hypotension, means that the pressure of blood circulating around your body is lower than normal or lower than expected given the environmental conditions.

Hypotension, however, is a relative term – a person can have low blood pressure compared to other people who have similar physical characteristics, but may still be perfectly healthy.

Low blood pressure is only a problem if it has a negative effect on your body. For example, any of your vital organs, particularly your brain, can become starved of oxygen and nutrients if the blood pressure serving that vital organ is too low for that particular individual.

What are the symptoms of hypotension?

Significant blood loss can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, resulting in the body going into a state of shock. The most dramatic effect of sudden hypotension is unconsciousness. However, low blood pressure usually develops over time.

Some of the most common symptoms are:

• light-headedness, when standing from a sitting or lying position;

• unsteadiness;

• dizziness;

• blurred vision;

• unusual fatigue;

• fainting.

What are the causes of hypotension?

Low blood pressure can result from one or more of many different causes including:

• emotional stress, fear, or pain (these are the most common causes of fainting);

• dehydration, which reduces blood volume;

• your body’s reaction to heat, which is to shunt blood into the vessels of the skin,

leading to dehydration;

• blood donation which reduces your blood volume;

• internal bleeding, such as a perforated stomach ulcer;

• severe blood loss from trauma, such as a road accident or deep cut;

• pregnancy;

• some medications for high blood pressure which lower blood pressure too far;

• diuretics, which produce fluid loss and these can lead to loss of blood volume;

• some medications for depression;

• some medications for certain heart conditions;

• allergic reaction to certain drugs or chemicals;

• some forms of infection, such as toxic shock syndrome.

• heart disease, which can affect the pumping action of the heart muscle;

• some nervous system disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease;

• Addisons disease in which the adrenal glands fail to produce sufficient hormones critical to maintaining blood-pressure.

Many people have experienced the temporary effects of low blood pressure when standing suddenly upright from a sitting or lying position. Usually the blood vessels in your body respond to this sudden increase in gravity by constricting, thus increasing your blood pressure.

If however, the blood vessels don’t adjust to compensate for the increased gravity effects of your standing position and allow the blood pressure to drop, this results in a feeling of light-headedness, or if severe enough, dizziness or fainting.

What can be done about Hypotension?

Treatment for hypotension depends on the specific cause or causes. For example, the dosages of existing medications may need to be altered or a bleeding stomach ulcer surgically repaired. If no particular cause can be found, drugs may be used to raise blood pressure.

While hypotension – low blood pressure – can have significant effects on your health, these are often temporary and, once the cause has been determined, can usually be readily treated.

Hypotension has far less potential to damage your health than does hypertension – high blood pressure.

However, if you believe that persistent low blood pressure is affecting your health you should seek medical attention to determine the cause and take your physician’s recommended steps to improve your blood pressure.

John Vanse has a network of health related sites.


These sites, and further information about your blood pressure may be accessed through:

The Better Health Guide

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Garlic and Onion for High Blood Pressure – Natural Remedies for Your Health

Garlic and onion are being used for centuries in treating high blood pressure by different cultures because of its therapeutic virtues. Garlic and onions are herbs from the lily family with the ability to strengthen the heart and maintain the blood flow thereby regulating the pressure of the blood.

Before the emergence of processed foods, 2 to 5 percent of the society developed common symptoms of high blood pressure as headaches and nosebleeds. These symptoms often referred to as “hot blood” are treated by the common folks by using garlic.

In 1921, Dr. Michael Leoper circulated a research paper indicating the effectiveness of garlic in lowering the blood pressure as well as eliminating the common symptoms. As published, garlic relaxes and dilates the blood vessel walls hence, resistance to blood flow is reduced or peripheral resistance is lowered. In the same year, other researches revealed that garlic has antibacterial ingredients that lessens the absorption of toxins.

This was followed by a study made by Dr. Ed Block in 1985 identifying the substance “ajoene” in garlic as responsible in the lowering of the blood pressure. Since then, extensive studies were made.

As noted, the active components of garlic can perform the following:

1. Reduce the production of hormones which causes high blood pressure.

2. As a mild diuretic which makes the kidneys relax in the reabsorption of salt and generate ample amount of urine. Since more salt is released in the urine, the effect is lower blood pressure.

3. Supplies potassium to compensate for the lost potassium that was secreted in the urine.

4. Trim down accumulation of platelets to prevent blood clots which may lead to heart attacks and strokes.

5. Enhance the effectiveness of dietary plan.

Nowadays, “kyolic” or aged garlic is made into tablets and sold in health-food stores with the same therapeutic claim with that of raw or fresh garlic bulbs. To date, garlic tablets have no medical basis yet compared with the fresh garlic bulbs.

In relation to the healing properties of onion, its active ingredient allicin is lesser, making it less effective than garlic. However, onion contributes to the overall effectiveness of other nutrients.

As a remedy, the combination of garlic and onion to cure high blood pressure can be used as food additives for sour cream, salad, soup, etc.. It is also advised to eat garlic on a daily basis and use garlic oil only in recipes but avoid garlic salt because this is still salt.

Alvin Hopkinson is a leading health researcher in the area of natural remedies and high blood pressure treatment. Discover how you can get rid of your high blood pressure for good using proven and effective home remedies, all without using harmful medications or drugs. Visit his site now at http://www.minusbloodpressure.com

Alvin Hopkinson is a leading health researcher in the area of natural remedies and weight loss.

He had published many health articles online, is a platinum expert author in EzineArticles and writes for Health Central, which is a leading health authority website.

Some of his sites includes:

High Blood Pressure Treatment

Gout Relief

Fat Loss Diet

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