placebo. After thirty days, overall mortality (death) was higher in the group treated with the beta-blockerâ3.1 percent vs. 2.3 percentâand the drug-treated group had almost double the incidence of stroke. 9 Additional analyses did not identify any subgroup that benefited from metoprolol. The artificially lowered blood pressure had clear risks; the drugs caused more harm than good.
In fact, there is no data to suggest that these drugs prevent heart attacks in healthy people with only mildly elevated blood pressure. The latest review of the evidence was presented in a 2007 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology . 10 Despite three decades of physicians using beta-blockers for hypertension, the authors of the state-of-the-art paper noted that no study has shown that beta-blocker therapy reduces death in hypertensive patients, even when compared with placebos. A review conducted by the highly respected Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found essentially the same thing: the prescriptions written for beta-blockers to lower blood pressure do not extend lifespan. 11
The liberal use of medications in an attempt to reduce the effects of our toxic diet-style has its own set of unique risks, as these research findings suggest. Medications to lower blood pressure also cause fatigue, lightheadedness, and loss of balance. They can lead to falls in the elderly, potentially causing hip fractures, and they can lower diastolic blood pressure excessively (as they lower systolic), which increases the potential for cardiac arrhythmias, potentially leading to death. 12 Blood pressure medications that lower diastolic blood pressure too far have also been shown to increase the occurrence of atrial fibrillation, another serious rhythm disturbance of the heart. 13
In the elderly, moderately high blood pressure is not a risk factor for increased mortality. Low blood pressure, on the other hand, is: blood pressure values below 140/70 are associated with excess mortality in the elderly, and this is especially noticeable when drugs push down the diastolic blood pressure too low. 14
Systolic pressure is the first, higher number; it represents the force of the heart pumping against the resistance offered by the blood vessel walls. Diastolic pressure is the second, lower number; it represents the pressure against the blood vessels during the relaxation and filling phase of the heartbeat. When blood vessels stiffen with disease and aging, the systolic rises because the vessels do not expand during systole as they should, and the diastolic falls because the blood vessel wall no longer contracts inward as it should.
Because coronary artery filling occurs during diastole, people with coronary artery disease (CAD) are at increased risk for coronary ischemic events (caused by insufficient blood flow and oxygenation) when diastolic blood pressure falls below a certain level. This is because when diastolic blood pressure is too low, the heart does not refill adequately with blood during diastole. When international researchers studied 22,000 patients in a fourteen-country study, they found a striking increase in heart attacks in those whose medications brought the diastolic blood pressure below 84. Those with a diastolic blood pressure below 60 had three times the occurrence of heart attacks compared to those with a diastolic above 80! We often have to look outside this country for some balanced research.
Whether itâs cold medications, antibiotics, pain medications, immunizations, or blood pressure or diabetic medications, the false perception is that these are life-saving interventions dramatically extending our lives. Our confusion is understandable: generally speaking, drug studies are designed to hide potential side effects, and the long-term negative outcomes from drug use are most often hidden or unknown. The side effects and risks of using multiple drugs at the same time are even greater. The dangers of this major
In fact, there is no data to suggest that these drugs prevent heart attacks in healthy people with only mildly elevated blood pressure. The latest review of the evidence was presented in a 2007 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology . 10 Despite three decades of physicians using beta-blockers for hypertension, the authors of the state-of-the-art paper noted that no study has shown that beta-blocker therapy reduces death in hypertensive patients, even when compared with placebos. A review conducted by the highly respected Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found essentially the same thing: the prescriptions written for beta-blockers to lower blood pressure do not extend lifespan. 11
The liberal use of medications in an attempt to reduce the effects of our toxic diet-style has its own set of unique risks, as these research findings suggest. Medications to lower blood pressure also cause fatigue, lightheadedness, and loss of balance. They can lead to falls in the elderly, potentially causing hip fractures, and they can lower diastolic blood pressure excessively (as they lower systolic), which increases the potential for cardiac arrhythmias, potentially leading to death. 12 Blood pressure medications that lower diastolic blood pressure too far have also been shown to increase the occurrence of atrial fibrillation, another serious rhythm disturbance of the heart. 13
In the elderly, moderately high blood pressure is not a risk factor for increased mortality. Low blood pressure, on the other hand, is: blood pressure values below 140/70 are associated with excess mortality in the elderly, and this is especially noticeable when drugs push down the diastolic blood pressure too low. 14
Systolic pressure is the first, higher number; it represents the force of the heart pumping against the resistance offered by the blood vessel walls. Diastolic pressure is the second, lower number; it represents the pressure against the blood vessels during the relaxation and filling phase of the heartbeat. When blood vessels stiffen with disease and aging, the systolic rises because the vessels do not expand during systole as they should, and the diastolic falls because the blood vessel wall no longer contracts inward as it should.
Because coronary artery filling occurs during diastole, people with coronary artery disease (CAD) are at increased risk for coronary ischemic events (caused by insufficient blood flow and oxygenation) when diastolic blood pressure falls below a certain level. This is because when diastolic blood pressure is too low, the heart does not refill adequately with blood during diastole. When international researchers studied 22,000 patients in a fourteen-country study, they found a striking increase in heart attacks in those whose medications brought the diastolic blood pressure below 84. Those with a diastolic blood pressure below 60 had three times the occurrence of heart attacks compared to those with a diastolic above 80! We often have to look outside this country for some balanced research.
Whether itâs cold medications, antibiotics, pain medications, immunizations, or blood pressure or diabetic medications, the false perception is that these are life-saving interventions dramatically extending our lives. Our confusion is understandable: generally speaking, drug studies are designed to hide potential side effects, and the long-term negative outcomes from drug use are most often hidden or unknown. The side effects and risks of using multiple drugs at the same time are even greater. The dangers of this major
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