NO MORE HYPETENSION

"life is like a scrambled egg."

DON MARQUIS, Frustration.

Frustration has a lot of company. Tension, frustration and the rigors of the modern day life are the prime causes of hypertension, which can be a cause or a result of blocked arteries. Hypertension kills by causing failure of heart, kidneys and brain. If your blood pressure is higher than 160/95, you have a 5-30time higher risk of coronary atherosclerosis (blocking of heart arteries) and stroke.

All factors which cause atherosclerosis also cause hypertension. However, the factor most directly related to hypertension is stress. Stress is caused whenever your moods change, you cry or laugh, you worry or feel excited, you feel loved or hated, you achieves some goals of lose some. The effects of stress are commutative and you need to evaluate periodically how you are managing your life or your life is managing you. Here’s a quick test to find out how you score (table 7.1)

TABLE 7.1
DO IT YOURSELF TEST FOR SOME STRESS TESTING

HOW TO SCORE: Add all scores for events that tool place during the past 12 months. Scores up to 1500, you are doing fine; between 1500-3000, you have moderate stress, watch out; scores over 3000, you need help now-buy fish today.

Through the process of evaluation, our body has become accustomed to handling stress by exhibiting a "fight or flight" syndrome. When under stress, our body releases hormones which increase heart rate and blood pressure to supply more blood and oxygen to tissues to combat the cause of tension. There are a simultaneous increase in the sugar and fat content of blood. Therefore, the net effect of stress is that our blood gets sweeter, fattier, thicker and "clottier" all of these causing an increased tendency to deposit fat in the arteries.

Therefore, the best possible way to avoid heart disease is to avoid stress, advice which cannot be easily followed. However, you can learn to control your body’s response to stress. A study reported in October 1986 by the American Heart Association states that by adopting a less competitive lifestyle you can reduce the risk of heart disease by more than 50 percent. For example, by simply letting others finish talking without interrupting them may add several years to your life. The famous classification to type A (hyperactive) or B (calm), should be reviewed to see if you can cultivate the B profile.

ROLE OF FISH IN REDUCING HYPERTENSION

A simpler and immediate means of reducing hypertension is to add fish to your diet. The Eskimos and the Japanese maintain much lower blood pressure than the Americans because of the concentration of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood. Recalling the discussion in an earlier chapter, omega-3 acids dilate arteries and keep blood flowing smoothly; vegetable-oil-derived omega-6 acids, on the other hand, constrict arteries and raise blood pressure.

Omega-3 acids also have an effect on the elasticity of blood vessels. With age, and as a result of continued tension, our arteries harden (arteriosclerosis), therefore, cannot relieve increased pressure effectively by expanding. omega-3 fatty acids keep membranes of body cells, and as a result our arteries, more supple and flexible. The high concentration of omega-3 acids in the walls of red blood cells makes them more easily penetrable to deeper tissue, providing better oxygenation of all body tissues. Therefore, the overall effect of fish diet is to reduce hypertension and allow freer breathing of body tissues. The increased breathing of tissues also reduces formation of free radicals, which are implicated in blockage of arteries, especially in the brain (stroke).

The January, 1987 issue of the Prevention Magazine includes an impressive testimony by Charles D. Neal of Carbondale, Illinois. Neal had a chronic problem of hypertension. He asked his doctor to monitor him on a fish oil therapy. The results were startling (table 7.2).

TABLE 7.2
FASH OILS LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE: A CLINICALTRIAL

Neal's doctor said, after examining him eight weeks later, "The outcome was unbelievable. If I hadn't supervised the experiment myself, 1 would not have believed the results. "

The beneficial effects of fish can be substantially increased if you also adopt other recommendations to reduce the incidence of hypertension and plaque forination (table 7.3).

TABLE 7.3
RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE RISK OF HYPERTENSION.

• maintain ideal body weight
• reduce fat in your food by half
• reduce or eliminate use of dairy products
• avoid egg yolks and organ meats
• be moderate in your lifestyle
• give up smoking
• eat as much and as many types of fish as possible
• eat meats of all types sparingly
• exercise regularly, especially aerobic type
• keep smiling
• drive at 55 mph
• don't interrupt others talking
• accept your spouse's refusal of sex gracefully
• try finishing second or third at times
• cross the bridge when you come to it-do not worry
• learn to use time effectively
• rationalize events