Hypertension is High Blood Pressure, and blood pressure is defined as: (from Wikipedia)



"... the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as blood moves through arteries, arterioles, capillaries, and veins; the term blood pressure generally refers to arterial pressure, i.e., the pressure in the larger arteries, arteries being the blood vessels which take blood away from the heart."

I just googled "stress and hypertension" and got back 2.6 million results. So there might be something to that as well.

From The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA states, "Stress can cause hypertension through repeated blood pressure elevations as well as by stimulation of the nervous system to produce large amounts of vasoconstricting hormones that increase blood pressure."

So there is this mind body connection as well. We humans have to adapt to a fast paced, stimulating mental environment while we generally are becoming more and more sedentary in life style. If I were to recommend one thing to help the mind body connection part of the formula, it would be to begin a regular yoga practice.

It seems somehow inane to me that I need to go to the gym several times a week to push on machines and "simulate" working my muscles when in times past, I got plenty of work in my daily job of splitting firewood, but indeed, my brain is doing most of my daily work now except for my fingers that do a lot of keyboarding (boy, do my wrists hurt) and the occasions that I am lifting boxes of product.

Premium Omega-3 fish oil extracts are very good for both the heart muscle, and the cardiovascular system. When the cardiovascular system is working better, the whole body is working better. Premium Omega-3 fish oil extracts support healthy heart function, encourages blood flow to the heart, and helps keep healthy arteries healthy and elastic.

Since we are talking about natural products, we are limited with product claims such as high blood pressure which requires medical treatment by a doctor. Therefore, we do encourage that everyone read and educate themselves on the subject matter by reviewing the clinical studies on natural ingredients that have been published in medical journals.

Below are some links to scientific abstracts that have been published in the medical journal Hypertension, which support the evidence behind premium Omega-3 fish oil extracts, a highly effective, supplement derived from fish oil, and the ability of the active ingredients found in omega-3s to promote heart function. You may want to share these study summaries with your doctor.

Blood pressure response to fish oil supplementation: metaregression analysis of randomized trials.

Original papers:

Journal of Hypertension. 20(8):1493-1499, August 2002.

Geleijnse, Johanna M. a,b; Giltay, Erik J. a; Grobbee, Diederick E. b; Donders, Adrianus R. T. b,c; Kok,Frans J.

Objective: The antihypertensive effect of fish oil was estimated from randomized trials using metaregression analysis. Modification of the blood pressure (BP) effect by age, gender, blood pressure, and body mass index was examined.

Methods : A total of 90 randomized trials of fish oil and BP were identified through MEDLINE (1966-March 2001). Trials with co-interventions, patient populations, non-placebo controls, or duration of less than 2 weeks were excluded.

A total of 36 trials (50 strata) were included, 22 of which had a double-blind design. Original reports were retrieved for data collection on sample size, study design, duration, fish oil dose, BP changes and baseline characteristics of trial populations.

Pooled BP estimates were obtained by metaregression analysis, weighted for trial sample sizes. Stratified analyses according to population characteristics were performed.

Results : Intake of fish oil was high in most trials (median dose: 3.7 g/day). Fish oil reduced systolic BP by 2.1 mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0, 3.2;P less than 0.01] and diastolic BP by 1.6 mmHg (95% CI: 1.0. 2.2;P less than 0.01). Restricting the analysis to double-blind trials yielded BP reductions of 1.7 mmHg (95% CI: 0.3, 3.1) and 1.5 mmHg (95% CI: 0.6, 2.3), respectively.

BP effects tended to be larger in populations that were older (over 45 years) and in hypertensive populations (BP greater than= 140/90 mmHg).

Conclusions : High intake of fish oil may lower BP, especially in older and hypertensive subjects. The antihypertensive effect of lower doses of fish oil (less than 0.5 g/day) however, remains to be established.

(C) 2002 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

A low-sodium diet supplemented with fish oil lowers blood pressure in the elderly Hypertension Research Program, Commonwealth Scientific and International Research Organization (CSIRO) Division of Human Nutrition, Adelaide, South Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To examine effects of dietary fish oil supplementation with sodium restriction on blood pressure in the elderly. DESIGN: In a double-blind dietary intervention lasting 4 weeks, parallel comparisons of blood pressure were made in volunteers assigned to one of four treatment groups: fish oil and low sodium; fish oil and normal sodium; sunflower oil and low sodium; or sunflower oil and normal sodium.

SETTING: Subjects lived at home and attended our nutrition research clinic at fortnightly intervals for dietary counselling and blood pressure measurement.

PARTICIPANTS: Health volunteers aged 60-80 years were sought by advertisement. A total of 114 men and women were enrolled in two cohorts; 106, with an initial mean blood pressure of 132/77 mmHg, satisfactorily completed the study. INTERVENTION: All subjects adopted a low-sodium diet and dietary changes were effected by double-blind administration of slow-release sodium chloride or placebo tablets, along with capsules containing either fish or sunflower oil. MAIN

OUTCOME MEASURE: The primary measure was the within-subject change in blood pressure after 4 weeks of intervention in each dietary treatment group. RESULTS: Urinary sodium excretion in subjects on low-sodium diets decreased whilst potassium excretion was unaffected. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) fell in the group taking sunflower oil with low sodium, but there was only a transient fall in diastolic blood pressure (DBP).

In those taking fish oil with normal sodium, the change in blood pressure was not significant, except after adjustment for initial blood pressure and weight changes. When fish oil was combined with low sodium, however, both SBP and DBP were substantially reduced; the reduction in DBP was significantly greater than in the other treatment groups.

CONCLUSION: Dietary fish oil and sodium restriction can interact to lower DBP in the elderly.

Taking Premium Omega-3 fish oil extracts would be very good to your overall cardiovascular health.

More and more people are now taking fish oils. Not just any fish oil will work. Why do I say that? The oil needs to contain sufficient amounts of EPA and DHA, the beneficial metabolite that the body needs from the fish oils.

The oil should also be purified with a molecular distillation process to ensure harmful products from fish have been removed, while maintaining the active omega-3 fatty acid content.

The fish oil product must be pleasant to take otherwise our human condition will not allow us to do things that are unpleasant. Most people who try store bought low density fish oils are not happy with the after-taste and repeating.

Make sure the omega-3 you buy meets strict standards for safety set forth by the industry, and is an effective product.

As always, I recommend that all supplement use be discussed with your physician and that you continue to work with your doctor on a treatment plan for high blood pressure.