For most people, high blood pressure is a sign that the circulatory system (blood pipes) are partially obstructed and inelastic, and that the heart must pump blood at a higher pressure to reach the far corners of the body.
Reducing high blood pressure with drugs or treatments without correcting the underlying problem means that the circulatory system does not have enough pressure to send blood to the far corners of the body. Over time, portions of the brain, kidneys, toes, and parts far away from the main arteries begin to die because they lack food and oxygen.
Usually, drugs treat something wrong. For example, AIDS drugs attempt to suppress the AIDS virus. For insulin dependent diabetics (Type I), insulin drugs replace the insulin that the pancreas is supposed to make. Cancers are diseased cells that must be killed ASAP using drugs or radiation or surgery or other therapy. In contrast to these and many other conditions that respond well to drug therapy, high blood pressure is usually not a disease but a sign of something wrong with the circulation. High blood pressure increases the risk of a vessel breaking and causing a stroke or other trouble
When the vessels are under high blood pressure all the time, they are likely to break. A broken vessel in the brain causes a stroke that damages the brain. An artery under high pressure may break inside the body (causing internal bleeding), and can damage the heart, the kidney, and other organs.
When the pressure is very high, it must be reduced as soon as possible to prevent breaking an artery. Thus, drugs can be an appropriate treatment until other approaches (weight loss, diet) take effect. Otherwise, in most cases, blood pressure can be reduced slowly with appropriate diet and exercise. Treatments that lower blood pressure without correcting the circulation problem may have undesirable side effects
There are many treatments for high blood pressure. It is fairly easy to identify those that seek to correct the reason why the body is pumping blood at high pressure, and those that merely seek to stop the body from pumping blood at high pressure.
Weight loss and special diets seek to reduce the stress of the circulatory system, and clean up the arteries. When the body is smaller (slimmer) and/or the arteries are more elastic and clean, and the blood is more fluid (does not stick too much), then the blood flows better and the heart does not need to increase its pressure for the blood to reach everywhere. These treatments are effective because they correct the reason for high blood pressure and make it easier for the body to feed itself. They have practically no side effects, and are likely to improve brain and heart function.
Treatments such as acupuncture or drugs usually lower blood pressure by either changing the way the heart works, or by changing how the blood vessels respond (for example, dilating the vessels). Dilating the vessels is no substitute for cleaning the vessels, although it may be a temporary solution. Dilating the vessels can be risky if a vessel breaks.
There are some people that have a disease that causes high blood pressure, such as a tumor or unusual genetic factors. In those individuals, blood pressure may need to be treated with drugs.
We do have an effective treatment for high blood pressure: be slim (eat less, exercise more) and eat a mixture of lean protein and essential fats.