Blood Pressure Drugs: Are They Any Better (or Safer) Than Statins?
For the last 10 years, PB, one of my trainers, has been taking my blood pressure at least three times every time I train. Two or three times a week. In all that time, my systolic numbers ranged from 110 to 120, while my diastolic numbers ranged from 70 to 80. That’s healthy for someone my age.
About a month ago, though, my blood pressure was 190/110. Which is considered “dangerous.” We continued with the training, but at a moderate pace, and he took several more measurements. They varied somewhat but were all too high. Over the next few days, they varied from normal to scary high.
I called my primary care physician. He told me that high blood pressure at my age is common. And he wrote me a prescription.
That sort of knee-jerk resort to prescribing a drug worried me. I did some research and discovered that blood pressure medication is effective in controlling symptoms (i.e., the numbers). But, like the statins prescribed for high cholesterol, has not been effective in extending life.
When I mentioned that fact to my doctor at my next appointment, he didn’t dispute it. “But it will reduce your chance of getting a debilitating stroke,” he said.
“Fair enough,” I thought. But in researching that claim, I couldn’t find any studies that persuaded me it was true.
I was in a dilemma. My rational brain was telling me that neither the cholesterol drug I was taking nor the blood pressure drug was going to do me any good. But it also reminded me that the research I’d done was limited, as was my experience. Which made it impossible to consult with my limbic brain to see if it could guide me in this matter.
So, I decided to take a halfway measure. Literally. Currently, I’m taking the statin and the blood pressure drug. But at half the doses recommended by my doctor. (Don’t bother writing to tell me what’s wrong with this as a “solution.” I know that. But if you have a better one, backed up with believable data, let me know.)
Meanwhile, I discovered that the dramatic and quick onset of high blood pressure, such as what I experienced, can be a side effect of taking – as I am doing – a combination of blood thinners, statins, and anti-depressants. And if that’s true… what to do?
I’m reporting on this not to subject you, dear reader, to a never-ending account of my health issues, but to throw some light on protocols and practices of modern medicine that are widely accepted but, in fact, have little if any science behind them. In all the research I’ve been doing, I haven’t found reliable solutions to any of the most common modern illnesses (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity). But I have discovered that many of the recommended, state-of-the-art treatments are defective.
Speaking of which, BM, a regular reader of this blog, has been sending me links to relevant material, the most recent of which I’m passing on to you here.
