More and more people are turning to non traditional methods, at least in the western world, for treating not only their high blood pressure but many of the ailments that they suffer from.

For those who prefer not to take drugs because of the side effects associated with them, there are alternatives. Modern medicine has yet to prove or disprove that these methods work but the people who use them say that they find they at least feel better from them, even if their blood pressure doesn't go down or only goes down a little.

One of these is the use of yoga. Supposedly, yoga is a meditative science that relaxes the mind and body. Actually, yoga is more than just that. It is a way of life that includes ethical teachings, dietary prescriptions and lots of physical exercise. Those who follow the practice of yoga believe that it has the ability to alter their body and mental responses beyond what a person on his own is normally capable of.

During the past 80 years health professionals in India and the West have begun to investigate the therapeutic potential of yoga. To date, these research studies have shown that yoga most definitely has an effect on blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory function, metabolic rate, skin resistance, brain waves, body temperature, and many other bodily functions.

The problem with yoga is that it requires many hours of adhering to its principals and teachings daily. In our fast paced society it is a rare individual who has time for such a routine.

Another alternative used to treat high blood pressure is acupuncture which is traced back to China about 2500 years ago. The theory of acupuncture is that there are patterns of energy flow through the body that are important for good health. It is the disruptions of this flow that are believed to be the cause of poor health. By using acupuncture the flow imbalances can be corrected at certain points in the skin by inserting needles at these points. So far there has been no study to show if acupuncture indeed does lower a person's blood pressure.

Another alternative that people turn to is herbal remedies. Some of these herbal remedies have components that have been proven, in some cases, to actually reduce a person's blood pressure. But most of these cases are diet related anyway and not caused by genetic problems or underlying diseases. Most herbal remedies are available as food supplements because the FDA does not approve them as drugs. Because of this, herbal treatments have not been evaluated by the medical community and therefore there are no statistics as to their effectiveness.

Because no evaluations of these herbal remedies have been made, potential side effects from using them are unknown. Also, a major problem with most herbal remedies is that their contents are not standardized so a person doesn't know what he's getting from one time to the next. In addition, the ways that herbal remedies work to lower blood pressure are totally unknown. Because of these things, herbal remedies are not recommended for lowering blood pressure. Still, people are using them.