The following
program presents principles
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designed to promote good health
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and is not intended to take the
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place of
personalized professional care.
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The opinions and
ideas expressed are
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those of the speaker.
Viewers are encouraged
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to draw their own conclusions
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about the information presented.
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Hi, and welcome
to Wonderfully Made.
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My name is Sheryl
McWilliams and with us
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today as our guest
is Dr. Timothy Howe.
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Welcome Dr.
Howe. Thank you Sheryl,
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it's good to be with you again.
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It's a wonderful opportunity
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we have to talk about
how the Lord has made us.
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Yes, it is and
he has made us well.
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Yes, he has. Today,
I would like to talk
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with you about hypertension,
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high blood pressure. I
find it very interesting
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that as we grow older
it seems from time to time
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that our blood pressure goes up.
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Why is that? You know Sheryl
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when I was in medical school
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and that's been
quite a few years ago
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I'd to admit
now. I was told that
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a normal blood
pressure is 100 plus your age.
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Normal systolic
that's the top number,
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so if you were 60 a
normal blood pressure
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when I was in
medical school was 160
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we certainly
wouldn't obey that today.
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Absolutely not that's
actually kind of scary,
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yes it is a little frightening.
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Today, we accept
a much lower level
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of blood pressure
for being normal then
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we did then. What is normal?
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The Joint National Commission
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on hypertension;
JNC number 7 is the
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seventh report
they have made said that
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normal blood pressure
was less then 120 over 80.
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Wow! When you get
above 120 from 120
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over 80 to 140
over 90 they call it
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pre-hypertension and
above 140 over 90 is clearly
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hypertensive.
Interesting now when
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I go to the doctor they
tell me my blood pressure
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is you know 120 over
80 what do those numbers
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really mean? 120
is the top number,
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its 120 mm of mercury.
The old doctors' offices
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or even some of
mine still has this,
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has a column of
mercury and it reflects
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the height of the
column of mercury in that tube
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on the doctors valve.
It's a measure of pressure,
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the top number
the systolic number is
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when your heart
contracts maximally
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and it's the
pressure in the artery
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with heart
contraction. The diastolic
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or bottom number
is with the heart
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relaxed of course
your blood pressure
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doesn't go to zero
between heart beats
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if it did you would
too, you just go down
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you would go. You have
to have some blood pressure
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all the time if
you wanna be here.
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So, we have the
systolic that's the top number
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and the diastolic
that's when the heart relaxes
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and we measure the
pressure in the artery
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when the heart is relaxed
that's the bottom number.
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Okay, so is it
required that the blood pressure
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go up as we get
older? No, it's not required.
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We used to think that it was,
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we thought that
hardening of the arteries
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was normal but now we
know that's not the case
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and regardless of your age
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we know the following.
That for every two points
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your systolic blood
pressure exceeds 120
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your risk of
having a heart attack
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goes up 10 percent
and your risk of having
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a stroke goes up 15 percent.
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Now let's do the
numbers for a minute here.
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Let's say you come
into your doctors office,
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the nurse measures
your blood pressure
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and she says ah
that's very good today,
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you are only 140/90, ah good.
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I just have pre-hypertension,
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oh I feel better. Wait a minute
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that's 20 points of
up from 120/80 divide
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that 20 into an hour of 10.
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If your blood pressure is 140/90
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your risk of
stroke is up 150 percent.
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Wow! Your risk of
having a heart attack
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is of 100 percent, if
you are 180 double it.
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You know if
your, so small amounts
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of blood pressure change make
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a big difference
overall. That's so important
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that we understand
that normal blood pressure
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is 120/80 or
less. Above that we have
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at additive risk all the way up.
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So, it would than be
wise for us to actually ask
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our doctor what the
value is and not just accept
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though it's normal.
It's so important for you
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to know your blood
pressure that is critical
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and if you don't
know your blood pressure
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you should, if you
have high blood pressure
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get yourself a blood
pressure cuff and measure
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your blood pressure at home.
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Now, I'll tell you
that one of the mistakes
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that we make in doctors offices
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and you may make
at home is measuring
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your blood pressure
just in your own time.
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You know Sheryl if
we were sitting here
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together and into the
studio rushed a gunman
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and he pulled out
a gun and he shot me
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and I went over and
then he said hands up
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you are next. And
then instead of shooting
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you he measured
your blood pressure
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it would off the
charts. And it should be
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of course that's
a normal response
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your blood
pressure goes up with fright
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or with stress or with exercise.
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And when you're
measuring your blood pressure
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for this level
that we are talking
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about the ideal you
need to sitting quietly,
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you need to have
sat still for at least
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five minutes in
a calm environment.
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Now, I can tell you
in most doctors' office
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the nurse calls
your name you rush in,
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you sit down, she
takes your blood pressure
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before you can even
get your sleeve rolled up
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and that's what
I want you to know
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you need to sit
quietly for five minutes,
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calmly, relax and then measure
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the blood
pressure. The worst thing
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that I find in my
medical practice is not
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high blood
pressure, but a blood pressure
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that doesn't
respond to normal activity.
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If I put some on
treadmill stress test
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which I do quite frequently
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and their blood
pressure doesn't go up.
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Well, they have got a sick heart
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or if it starts
to fall than I know
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I am in a real
trouble because we should have
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a variable blood
pressure but the number
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we are talking
about is you relaxed,
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resting for five
minutes measuring
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that blood pressure and
then if its above 120/80,
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your risk of having a
stroke or a heart attack
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or another very
interesting problem
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is dementia; we hear a
lot about that memory loss.
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High blood pressure
we know now is associated
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with memory loss
and that's the one
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that it worries me, you know.
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I don't want to
get to the place where
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I don't know who
I am or who you are?
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You know that's
very important of course
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and high blood
pressure is related
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to that one as
well. I don't know
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how many of our
guests have ever had
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memory issues. I certainly from
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time to time
lose track of things
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and my blood
pressure perhaps isn't
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where it should be.
So, this is a very good
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conversation for
me. You know, many of my
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family members
have high blood pressure
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and they are
faithful about taking
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their medications.
What are some other options
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available to us to
manage our blood pressure
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perhaps that do
not include medication
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with lifestyle intervention?
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First of all lets
talk about medication,
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medication can be very helpful
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with high blood pressure
and as I tell my patients
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when they come in if
they have high blood pressure
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I want them on medicine
if they don't get it down
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within two or three
visits naturally because
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everyday that goes by
that your blood pressure
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is up is a day that
you are at increased risk.
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No question about that.
I am not in favor of using
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medicine as first line therapy,
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I would like to
decrease my use of medicine,
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but medicine is a lot better
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than high blood
pressure. I have patients
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that come in and they
say oh I want to do it
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naturally I say
great, lets do it naturally
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and so I tell them the
things that they should
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do to lower their blood pressure
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and they comeback,
they haven't done this,
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they haven't done that,
I say listen you got to go
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on medicine. Oh, I
wanna do it naturally.
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Well, I want you
to do it naturally too
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but I want you to
do something because
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high blood pressure
is a risk and we do have
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very good medicines
but here is the problem.
00:09:29.83\00:09:33.01
If you lower your blood
pressure with medication
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almost always you
also lower your blood flow.
00:09:37.20\00:09:42.01
Ask anybody
that's going on medicine
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and they will tell
you at least at first
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and often the entire
time they are on medicine
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they feel a little sluggish why?
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Because medicine
takes the top right off
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your performance. If
you go on a beta-blocker
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that's one type of a medicine,
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it slows your
heart rate. It decreases
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the heart's contractility,
00:10:05.71\00:10:07.45
you don't have humph anymore.
00:10:07.48\00:10:10.14
So, not only do we
decrease blood pressure
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which is good, but we
also decrease blood flow
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and when we decrease
blood flow we decrease
00:10:16.95\00:10:20.02
our performance,
our physical ability
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to perform work and to
be active that's the problem
00:10:22.60\00:10:26.06
with blood pressure medicine.
00:10:26.09\00:10:27.58
Is not only you
decrease pressure,
00:10:27.61\00:10:30.12
but you also
decrease flow and ask
00:10:30.15\00:10:34.34
any gentlemen
that's going on medicine
00:10:34.37\00:10:36.32
he can tell you the
impotence is a problem,
00:10:36.35\00:10:38.62
why? Blood flows
down, blood flow down
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something else is down
too and you need to remember
00:10:41.94\00:10:45.77
that medicine very helpful,
00:10:45.80\00:10:47.94
but there are
problems. So, that is even
00:10:47.97\00:10:50.23
including the side
effects of a medicine
00:10:50.26\00:10:52.34
and there are many drug effects,
00:10:52.37\00:10:54.65
there are problems with the
00:10:54.68\00:10:55.95
blood pressure
medicines. Interesting,
00:10:55.98\00:10:58.94
so you mentioned that
when a client comes in,
00:10:58.97\00:11:01.48
patient comes in, who
is interested in perhaps
00:11:01.51\00:11:05.63
natural methods
of lowering their
00:11:05.66\00:11:07.53
blood pressure,
what are some of those
00:11:07.56\00:11:09.06
natural methods. Well,
let me tell you a story.
00:11:09.09\00:11:11.10
This happened just last year.
00:11:11.13\00:11:12.75
I had a gentleman
come into my practice.
00:11:12.78\00:11:14.76
He is one of my favorite
patients and I have been
00:11:14.79\00:11:18.98
working on his blood
pressure for a longtime.
00:11:19.01\00:11:22.05
He ate a pretty good diet.
00:11:22.08\00:11:23.33
He wasn't really overweight,
00:11:23.36\00:11:24.69
but he had a bit of
a sweet tooth you know
00:11:24.72\00:11:27.54
and he was
active, fairly active,
00:11:27.57\00:11:30.90
still vigorous in his seventies,
00:11:30.93\00:11:32.57
late seventies, and you know
00:11:32.60\00:11:35.94
I was just
encouraging him and trying,
00:11:35.97\00:11:38.66
but he would, he
want a hundred percent
00:11:38.69\00:11:40.91
with the program, and
he said well I'll just
00:11:40.94\00:11:43.43
take a medicine. So
we had him on medication,
00:11:43.46\00:11:45.87
and one day he came
in and he had a stroke.
00:11:45.90\00:11:50.00
He was numb on
the side of his face.
00:11:52.39\00:11:54.65
His hand wasn't working
and he was having trouble
00:11:54.68\00:11:59.13
with the speech. And I
am telling you this guy
00:11:59.16\00:12:02.32
I had his
attention for the first time,
00:12:02.35\00:12:05.07
I had his full
attention, and of course
00:12:05.10\00:12:08.96
we had to do
something right away,
00:12:08.99\00:12:10.83
so we got the
immediate problem taken care of
00:12:10.86\00:12:13.44
and unfortunately for
him it was one of those
00:12:13.47\00:12:16.59
small strokes that
resolves, and all of his
00:12:16.62\00:12:20.25
symptoms resolved.
After they had resolved
00:12:20.28\00:12:22.95
I sat him down,
and I talk to him,
00:12:22.98\00:12:24.91
and I said now
tell me what did you do?
00:12:24.94\00:12:26.72
You know, how people sometimes
00:12:27.63\00:12:30.64
are little hesitant,
they don't want to tell you
00:12:30.67\00:12:32.57
what they have done.
And I said alright now
00:12:32.60\00:12:34.58
come tell me. He
said alright this is what
00:12:34.61\00:12:36.80
happened. He said I was
out working with my son.
00:12:36.83\00:12:40.30
His son is a cabinet
maker and I was helping
00:12:40.33\00:12:44.09
him build things, and he
said I didn't get a chance
00:12:44.12\00:12:47.63
to eat all day
long. And I didn't drink
00:12:47.66\00:12:51.24
a lot of water, and
I just kept working.
00:12:51.27\00:12:53.93
And when I got
home I was so hungry,
00:12:53.96\00:12:56.70
he said and my
wife would just made a
00:12:56.73\00:12:59.28
pan of brownies and
I ate the whole thing.
00:12:59.31\00:13:02.52
He said and then he went to bed,
00:13:03.44\00:13:05.15
and he woke up with the stroke.
00:13:05.18\00:13:07.34
Well you know I talk
to him, I said now listen
00:13:07.37\00:13:12.28
we are going to
have to make some changes
00:13:12.31\00:13:15.36
and these are the
changes I want you to make
00:13:15.39\00:13:18.10
and we will see how
your blood pressures goes.
00:13:18.13\00:13:20.50
And I said now I
can't stop your medicine
00:13:20.53\00:13:22.24
because if we stop
your medicine right away
00:13:22.27\00:13:24.99
and your blood pressure goes up,
00:13:25.02\00:13:26.39
and you have another stroke
00:13:26.42\00:13:27.90
then we are in
trouble. But we will watch you
00:13:27.93\00:13:30.29
closely and as your
blood pressure is coming down
00:13:30.32\00:13:32.89
then we will
decrease your medicine.
00:13:32.92\00:13:35.34
And he said well what are they,
00:13:35.37\00:13:37.09
I want to do them.
Well I said oh good,
00:13:37.12\00:13:39.13
I hope you don't have
to have a stroke to listen
00:13:39.16\00:13:41.17
to your doctor,
but you know if you do
00:13:41.20\00:13:43.04
we will take it, right.
So, I said no added salt,
00:13:43.07\00:13:47.94
none, no added
salt. He said that's easy,
00:13:47.97\00:13:51.07
I don't use much now
anyway. And then I said
00:13:51.10\00:13:54.08
I want you to walk
thirty to sixty minutes
00:13:54.11\00:13:57.37
everyday. And I want
you to cut out all sweets.
00:13:57.40\00:14:01.46
He said oh my wife
makes the best, you know,
00:14:01.49\00:14:05.60
name what you like. I
said you just try this
00:14:05.63\00:14:08.57
for two weeks,
that's all two weeks,
00:14:08.60\00:14:10.58
no added sugar,
none, no salt, and walk
00:14:10.61\00:14:16.23
and one more
just for him although
00:14:16.26\00:14:18.55
there are some
others, other people could do,
00:14:18.58\00:14:20.36
I want you to drink
eight glasses of water a day.
00:14:20.39\00:14:23.69
So he did it, no
added sugar, none at all.
00:14:23.72\00:14:27.86
He came back four
days later and he said
00:14:27.89\00:14:32.50
you know I am having trouble,
00:14:32.53\00:14:33.51
I am having trouble. I said what
00:14:33.54\00:14:35.41
your trouble is. He
said when I stand up,
00:14:35.44\00:14:37.02
I get light headed,
and I almost pass out.
00:14:37.05\00:14:40.55
So, I said well
sit down let's measure
00:14:40.58\00:14:43.30
your blood pressure,
so I pumped his cuff up,
00:14:43.33\00:14:46.36
I measured his blood pressure,
00:14:46.39\00:14:47.82
his pressure was
110/60. I said well time to cut
00:14:47.85\00:14:52.51
your medicine down,
so we cut it in half.
00:14:52.54\00:14:54.45
He came back a week
later, I am still having
00:14:54.48\00:14:58.15
the same symptoms, I
stopped his medicine.
00:14:58.18\00:15:00.86
He has been off it ever since.
00:15:00.89\00:15:02.74
He has been
careful with his diet,
00:15:02.77\00:15:05.50
his blood
pressure is right normal.
00:15:05.53\00:15:07.83
What was pushing
his blood pressure up,
00:15:07.86\00:15:10.43
sugar because see sugar
does an interesting thing.
00:15:10.46\00:15:15.26
Sugar when taken in
excess; now see sugar is
00:15:15.29\00:15:19.44
what we really
want, we like sugar,
00:15:19.47\00:15:21.81
our bodies runs on
sugar. Some people say you know
00:15:21.84\00:15:25.84
sugar is bad for
you, that's like me saying
00:15:25.87\00:15:28.44
gasoline is bad for your car,
00:15:28.47\00:15:30.53
it's not bad for your
car, it's what your car needs,
00:15:30.56\00:15:33.92
but it needs at the
right amount so do as our body,
00:15:33.95\00:15:36.85
and we take refine
sugar we get too much.
00:15:36.88\00:15:38.90
So I said all refine sugar out,
00:15:38.93\00:15:41.49
and he was eating
too much refined sugar
00:15:41.52\00:15:43.92
that was pushing
his insulin level up,
00:15:43.95\00:15:46.05
and insulin
raises the blood pressure
00:15:46.08\00:15:49.14
and it does some
other interesting things.
00:15:49.17\00:15:51.79
It makes the blood more sticky;
00:15:51.82\00:15:54.26
so it clots more
easily and that's why
00:15:54.29\00:15:57.08
he had a stroke. He
had that load of sugar,
00:15:57.11\00:15:59.69
his blood pressure
was up all from insulin
00:15:59.72\00:16:03.00
and his blood was too
sticky, and it will clot
00:16:03.03\00:16:06.27
just like that
and have a stroke.
00:16:06.30\00:16:08.52
Fortunately for
him it went away.
00:16:08.55\00:16:10.53
Wow, so I am sure that
many of you like sugar,
00:16:10.56\00:16:15.18
I certainly do.
I understand that
00:16:15.21\00:16:18.25
by eating well, not
too much refined sugar,
00:16:18.28\00:16:22.29
we can help to bring
down our blood pressure,
00:16:22.32\00:16:24.55
you mentioned
water. What effect is that
00:16:24.58\00:16:27.14
have on blood pressure?
I'll come back to that,
00:16:27.17\00:16:29.88
let's talk about sugar
just a minute, you know,
00:16:29.91\00:16:31.89
sugar thing is part of humanity.
00:16:31.92\00:16:34.31
If you take a little
baby and instead of giving
00:16:34.34\00:16:38.17
the mother's
breast like you should,
00:16:38.20\00:16:39.79
you put sugar
water in the bottle
00:16:39.82\00:16:41.63
and you give him two bottles,
00:16:41.66\00:16:44.07
one with fifty percent sugar
00:16:44.10\00:16:45.71
and one with ten
percent. They will suck
00:16:45.74\00:16:48.85
a lot harder on
the fifty percent sugar
00:16:48.88\00:16:51.13
right from birth. So
we like sweet things,
00:16:51.16\00:16:54.18
its part of our very nature,
00:16:54.21\00:16:56.08
but we need to
moderate our diets just because
00:16:56.11\00:17:00.09
you want something
doesn't mean its good for you,
00:17:00.12\00:17:02.91
and that's so important for us
00:17:02.94\00:17:05.04
to keep in our minds.
So, we all like sweets.
00:17:05.07\00:17:08.85
How about water? Well
you know one of the medicines
00:17:08.88\00:17:13.35
that we give
people is diuretics.
00:17:13.38\00:17:16.69
Diuretics waste
salt, they make your body
00:17:16.72\00:17:21.41
excrete salt in the
urine and when you excrete salt
00:17:21.44\00:17:25.35
your blood pressure comes down.
00:17:25.38\00:17:28.17
You can do the
same thing with water.
00:17:28.20\00:17:31.28
Water is a natural diuretic,
00:17:31.31\00:17:34.29
the more you
drink the lower your
00:17:34.32\00:17:37.25
blood pressure goes.
Now you can overdo it.
00:17:37.28\00:17:40.45
There are people
they have a problem
00:17:40.48\00:17:43.96
and they drink too much water.
00:17:43.99\00:17:45.55
We call it psychogenic
polydipsia that means
00:17:45.58\00:17:49.31
you are crazy and
you drink too much.
00:17:49.34\00:17:51.15
Now really that's what it means
00:17:51.18\00:17:52.80
psychogenic
polydipsia. You got to drink
00:17:52.83\00:17:55.33
a couple of gallons
a day to pull that off,
00:17:55.36\00:17:58.37
but it is doable and
then the salt in your body,
00:17:58.40\00:18:01.64
the serum sodium drops,
and when it drops too low
00:18:01.67\00:18:05.22
then when you
stand up you pass out,
00:18:05.25\00:18:07.86
you know because
it drops like the man
00:18:07.89\00:18:10.24
whose blood pressure because
00:18:10.27\00:18:11.56
he was on medicine
and he was started to live
00:18:11.59\00:18:14.08
a good diet, his blood
pressure dropped too low,
00:18:14.11\00:18:17.21
these people do the
same. This actually happened
00:18:17.24\00:18:20.05
to me when my husband and
I lived in the Middle East
00:18:20.08\00:18:22.22
for a number of
years, and it was really hot
00:18:22.25\00:18:25.30
there and I drank a tremendous
00:18:25.33\00:18:27.37
amount of water, my
sodium level did in fact
00:18:27.40\00:18:29.72
go down and I
began to get lightheaded.
00:18:29.75\00:18:31.92
I had no idea it
was related to the
00:18:31.95\00:18:33.81
amount of water
that I was drinking.
00:18:33.84\00:18:35.72
Here on the other
hand, I don't drink enough.
00:18:35.75\00:18:37.85
Runners have this
problem occasionally too.
00:18:39.55\00:18:42.61
They will go out
and run a marathon
00:18:42.64\00:18:44.94
and they will
drink too much water,
00:18:44.97\00:18:46.99
and then they have
a problem and they get
00:18:47.02\00:18:49.98
hyponatremia low
sodium and that can be
00:18:50.01\00:18:52.74
very dangerous.
Most of us don't come
00:18:52.77\00:18:55.72
anywhere near
that. How much water
00:18:55.75\00:18:58.44
should you drink? An
easy way to figure it is this
00:18:58.47\00:19:01.73
if you weigh a
hundred pounds you should have
00:19:01.76\00:19:03.72
six glasses of water a day.
00:19:03.75\00:19:05.84
For every twenty
five pounds over that,
00:19:05.87\00:19:08.47
had a glass, so if
you are two hundred,
00:19:08.50\00:19:10.86
ten, if you are one
fifty, eight, one hundred, six.
00:19:10.89\00:19:15.95
And if you do that
and eat a normal diet,
00:19:15.98\00:19:18.18
you will never have a
problem with hyponatremia
00:19:18.21\00:19:21.07
low sodium, and you will
lower your blood pressure.
00:19:21.10\00:19:24.13
Very important to
drink adequate water.
00:19:24.16\00:19:26.65
It's even more
important than salt restriction,
00:19:26.68\00:19:29.17
but if you do both I
am not saying eliminate
00:19:29.20\00:19:32.60
all salt, that's
not good, but avoid
00:19:32.63\00:19:35.47
the salty foods,
avoid salt on the table,
00:19:35.50\00:19:39.45
the salt shaker,
and have adequate water,
00:19:39.48\00:19:42.16
you will do really well
with your blood pressure.
00:19:42.19\00:19:44.24
So we have talked about sugar,
00:19:44.27\00:19:46.44
we have talked about salt,
00:19:46.47\00:19:48.36
we have talked about water,
00:19:48.39\00:19:49.75
what other natural
factors can help to lower
00:19:49.78\00:19:53.61
our blood
pressure. Another factor
00:19:53.64\00:19:55.90
that's very
important is eating foods
00:19:55.93\00:19:59.05
that are rich in
potassium because
00:19:59.08\00:20:01.67
potassium is the
balancing mineral
00:20:01.70\00:20:04.53
for sodium, and if
you have too much sodium
00:20:04.56\00:20:08.02
and not enough
potassium your blood pressure
00:20:08.05\00:20:10.41
goes up. If you
increase your potassium intake
00:20:10.44\00:20:13.57
you get a balance that
allows the muscle cells
00:20:13.60\00:20:16.97
in the blood
vessels to relax better,
00:20:17.00\00:20:19.48
you relax those blood
vessels. See most of us
00:20:19.51\00:20:22.51
think of blood
vessels as like lead pipes,
00:20:22.54\00:20:24.85
they are just
there, they don't move,
00:20:24.88\00:20:26.45
the don't do
anything, that's not true,
00:20:26.48\00:20:28.40
blood vessels are
living structures.
00:20:28.43\00:20:30.88
You know it's interesting
if you look intensely
00:20:30.91\00:20:34.86
at a picture that's
very detailed within seconds
00:20:34.89\00:20:38.59
the blood flow to
the occipital cortex
00:20:38.62\00:20:41.07
that's where your
sight cortex is increases
00:20:41.10\00:20:44.43
by 30 to 50
percent, wow, because some
00:20:44.46\00:20:47.59
blood vessels
constrict and others relax.
00:20:47.62\00:20:50.89
Our blood vessels are very alive
00:20:50.92\00:20:53.20
and so if we balance
that lowering the sodium,
00:20:53.23\00:20:56.77
raising the potassium it relaxes
00:20:56.80\00:20:59.72
the blood
vessels, and eating a diet
00:20:59.75\00:21:02.42
that's rich in
potassium really helps us
00:21:02.45\00:21:05.07
in lowering our blood pressure.
00:21:05.10\00:21:06.96
So eating those
bananas on a regular basis
00:21:06.99\00:21:09.93
are pretty good. Bananas
are certainly one of them,
00:21:09.96\00:21:12.19
bananas are rich in
potassium, sour oranges,
00:21:12.22\00:21:15.60
they are rich in
potassium, potatoes,
00:21:15.63\00:21:18.01
good old white
potatoes are very rich in
00:21:18.04\00:21:21.24
potassium,
mushrooms have quite a bit
00:21:21.27\00:21:24.76
of potassium in them, beans do,
00:21:24.79\00:21:26.90
all of those fresh
fruit is the one to go
00:21:26.93\00:21:30.56
for though. Apples
are wonderful for you,
00:21:30.59\00:21:33.16
they don't have
as much potassium
00:21:33.19\00:21:34.80
but they are
still wonderful fruit,
00:21:34.83\00:21:37.20
but almost all the
other fruits are very rich
00:21:37.23\00:21:39.42
in potassium. So
one of the things
00:21:39.45\00:21:41.98
I have in my
patients do if their
00:21:42.01\00:21:43.43
blood pressure is
up, as I say three pieces
00:21:43.46\00:21:46.13
of fruit a day and it
will help your blood pressure,
00:21:46.16\00:21:48.74
and it certainly
does. Interesting,
00:21:48.77\00:21:51.22
I know in my
lifestyle I don't get as much
00:21:51.25\00:21:54.52
physical activity as
I should. What role does
00:21:54.55\00:21:57.11
physical activity
play in helping to control
00:21:57.14\00:21:59.67
one's blood
pressure? Physical activity
00:21:59.70\00:22:02.30
is very important,
you remember the gentleman
00:22:02.33\00:22:04.05
who had the stroke,
what did I tell him to do?
00:22:04.08\00:22:06.46
Thirty to sixty
minutes a day of walking.
00:22:06.49\00:22:09.13
I am sure there are
some types of exercises
00:22:09.16\00:22:12.53
that won't lower
your blood pressure,
00:22:12.56\00:22:14.13
I am not sure going
to disco where the music
00:22:14.16\00:22:18.00
was loud and you are
jumping around to that
00:22:18.03\00:22:20.00
stuff would lower
your blood pressure,
00:22:20.03\00:22:21.55
you want
exercise that's relaxing,
00:22:21.58\00:22:24.88
that's
enjoyable, that will lower
00:22:24.91\00:22:27.98
your blood
pressure the best walking,
00:22:28.01\00:22:30.71
working in your garden
is excellent, lawn work.
00:22:30.74\00:22:34.33
When I was in medical
school I had a classmate,
00:22:34.36\00:22:37.93
he was from another
country and I was talking
00:22:37.96\00:22:41.79
with him one day about exercise.
00:22:41.82\00:22:43.62
He said you know
America is such a funny country.
00:22:43.65\00:22:46.07
He says the only
place in the world that
00:22:46.10\00:22:48.32
I have ever been
where they will pay
00:22:48.35\00:22:50.05
someone else to mow their lawns,
00:22:50.08\00:22:51.49
so they can go
jogging. You know pushing
00:22:51.52\00:22:54.44
that lawn mower is
exercise and it's even
00:22:54.47\00:22:58.04
more exercise if you
have one of those real ones
00:22:58.07\00:23:00.93
that you know you
have to provide the power
00:23:00.96\00:23:03.84
for instead of the electric one,
00:23:03.87\00:23:06.38
but exercise moving,
moving is what we need.
00:23:06.41\00:23:11.11
Oh, yeah you can
get an exercise machine
00:23:11.14\00:23:13.74
that's fine, you can
get a treadmill that's fine,
00:23:13.77\00:23:16.65
but I think exercise
in the out of doors where
00:23:16.68\00:23:19.58
there is fresh air,
where there is relaxation,
00:23:19.61\00:23:22.56
where you can deep breathes
00:23:22.59\00:23:23.90
really is the best to
lower your blood pressure.
00:23:23.93\00:23:27.20
And the way it does
it is your body is really
00:23:27.23\00:23:30.51
clever you know, you
are wonderfully made, yes.
00:23:30.54\00:23:33.65
And if you go out and exercise,
00:23:33.68\00:23:35.57
you are pushing
more blood through
00:23:35.60\00:23:37.76
those blood
vessels. Your body says,
00:23:37.79\00:23:40.34
I guess he is gonna
use these blood vessels
00:23:40.37\00:23:43.61
we better take care of
them, it's sort of like
00:23:43.64\00:23:46.30
the roads that you
drive on you know if nobody
00:23:46.33\00:23:49.11
drives on the road eventually
00:23:49.14\00:23:50.63
they let it decay
and you get potholes
00:23:50.66\00:23:53.11
and this and that. More traffic
00:23:53.14\00:23:55.20
that drives on the
road, the town comes along
00:23:55.23\00:23:58.17
and says we got
the problem here,
00:23:58.20\00:23:59.56
we got a lot more
traffic, we are gonna
00:23:59.59\00:24:00.91
have to repair this
road, body does the same.
00:24:00.94\00:24:03.97
The more traffic
on the blood vessels,
00:24:04.00\00:24:06.42
the more you use
them with exercise,
00:24:06.45\00:24:08.63
the body says well
we better make this work
00:24:08.66\00:24:12.17
better and so it
enlarges the blood vessel
00:24:12.20\00:24:14.78
and it improves the blood flow,
00:24:14.81\00:24:17.53
the blood pressure
drops. Remember with medication
00:24:17.56\00:24:21.41
the blood pressure
drops, but so does the
00:24:21.44\00:24:23.65
blood flow with exercise
the blood pressure drops,
00:24:23.68\00:24:27.73
and the blood flow comes up.
00:24:27.76\00:24:29.36
So your ability to do
work, your well being,
00:24:29.39\00:24:34.45
your sense of
energy actually increases
00:24:34.48\00:24:37.03
with exercise
where as with medicine
00:24:37.06\00:24:39.11
it goes down. So being
mindful about the amount
00:24:39.14\00:24:42.81
of water that we
drink, the amount of
00:24:42.84\00:24:45.22
refined sugar that we consume,
00:24:45.25\00:24:47.96
our physical
activity perhaps useful labor
00:24:47.99\00:24:50.67
is helpful. It
certainly is useful labor is my
00:24:50.70\00:24:54.90
favorite thing to do. I
would rather go chop wood
00:24:54.93\00:24:57.64
than lift weights.
I was out talking with
00:24:57.67\00:25:01.46
my father-in-law
just a few days ago.
00:25:01.49\00:25:03.81
He is 87 and he still
out there working everyday
00:25:03.84\00:25:08.61
and he said let
me show you what I do
00:25:08.64\00:25:10.51
for exercise. He
is repairing a road
00:25:10.54\00:25:12.93
that goes out to
his garden and he had
00:25:12.96\00:25:15.87
a pile of rocks there
and he picked up a rock
00:25:15.90\00:25:18.55
about this big
around and he picked it up
00:25:18.58\00:25:21.26
and he smashed it
down on the ground,
00:25:21.29\00:25:23.12
and you know it
broke, and then he picked up
00:25:23.15\00:25:25.70
the pieces and
filled the potholes.
00:25:25.73\00:25:27.53
Well that's lifting
weights and if you are 87
00:25:27.56\00:25:30.87
and can lift rocks
like this and smash them,
00:25:30.90\00:25:33.36
that's useful labor,
and you know the road
00:25:33.39\00:25:35.56
to the barn looks
pretty good. That's wonderful,
00:25:35.59\00:25:38.21
what role does stress
play in blood pressure?
00:25:38.24\00:25:41.05
Oh, stress plays
a big role, remember
00:25:41.08\00:25:43.15
what I told you if
someone came in here
00:25:43.18\00:25:45.26
and shot me and then
he said you are next,
00:25:45.29\00:25:47.14
instead of shooting he
took your blood pressure
00:25:47.17\00:25:49.33
it would be sky
high, why is that?
00:25:49.36\00:25:51.32
Well as soon as
you get stressed,
00:25:51.35\00:25:53.60
your adrenal glands
and there are little glands
00:25:53.63\00:25:56.41
that sit right on
top of your kidneys,
00:25:56.44\00:25:58.75
they secrete, they squeeze down,
00:25:58.78\00:26:01.27
and they secrete
hormones, epinephrine,
00:26:01.30\00:26:04.70
norepinephrine
immediately your pupils
00:26:04.73\00:26:07.75
dilate, your heart rate goes up,
00:26:07.78\00:26:09.71
and your blood
vessels constrict like this,
00:26:09.74\00:26:12.61
and you get ready
to run. Well you know
00:26:12.64\00:26:15.08
if this was 100, 200
years ago when someone
00:26:15.11\00:26:19.73
was behind you
and says stick them up
00:26:19.76\00:26:22.31
and you had to run
or you will be already
00:26:22.34\00:26:25.53
to run, but know
you are in the office
00:26:25.56\00:26:28.25
and your boss says more work,
00:26:28.28\00:26:29.99
why don't you do a good job,
00:26:30.02\00:26:31.54
there is no where to
run, and so we get all
00:26:31.57\00:26:35.04
those hormones
ready for fight or fly,
00:26:35.07\00:26:37.77
and we don't know
what to do with them,
00:26:37.80\00:26:39.71
and they turn
inward and burn us up
00:26:39.74\00:26:42.16
rather than us burning them up,
00:26:42.19\00:26:43.82
and the best way to
deal with stress is exercise
00:26:43.85\00:26:47.53
because it allows you
to work those chemicals
00:26:47.56\00:26:51.06
out of your body. You
know it's very important
00:26:51.09\00:26:54.49
for us to just relax a bit.
00:26:54.52\00:26:57.51
Meditation is wonderful,
there are two kinds of
00:26:57.54\00:27:01.02
meditation of course there is
00:27:01.05\00:27:02.37
Eastern meditation
that focuses on nothingness,
00:27:02.40\00:27:05.28
emptying the minds, and there is
00:27:05.31\00:27:07.66
Western meditation where
we focus on a loving God.
00:27:07.69\00:27:11.10
You want relaxation;
you want your blood pressure
00:27:11.13\00:27:14.67
to come down focus on
the God that loves you.
00:27:14.70\00:27:18.20
It's so very
important, more important
00:27:18.23\00:27:21.51
than anything
else. It will solve
00:27:21.54\00:27:24.30
your blood pressure problems,
00:27:24.33\00:27:26.14
if you just do
that. So, blood pressure
00:27:26.17\00:27:31.67
and our
spirituality are connected.
00:27:31.70\00:27:34.28
They are, you
can't separate the mind
00:27:34.31\00:27:37.37
and the body; they are
one. Thank you Dr. Howe
00:27:37.40\00:27:41.97
and thank you
audience for joining us,
00:27:42.00\00:27:44.22
I know there are
many of us who have
00:27:44.25\00:27:45.61
blood pressure
issues; myself on occasion
00:27:45.64\00:27:47.58
as well. So what I
have learned is that
00:27:47.61\00:27:50.04
I need to be
mindful of my stress
00:27:50.07\00:27:52.12
and I need to be
mindful of the amount of sugar
00:27:52.15\00:27:54.67
that I consume,
and the amount of water
00:27:54.70\00:27:56.44
that I consume of
my overall lifestyle
00:27:56.47\00:27:59.75
as a whole, and then
by paying attention to
00:27:59.78\00:28:02.16
those things and putting my life
00:28:02.19\00:28:03.93
in the hands of
Christ my blood pressure
00:28:03.96\00:28:06.04
perhaps can be controlled.
00:28:06.07\00:28:07.54
Absolutely,
very good, thank you.
00:28:07.57\00:28:09.90