American College of Cardiology says 50% of adults have high blood pressure

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Dr. G

How does that sit with you?

Avoid the impulse to think that having an opinion on the subject would require a medical degree or a certain level of medical training. Just take a second and ask yourself how this statement makes you feel. This statement may make you feel like this is some kind of BS. Too harsh? Maybe, but if 50% of the population has a disorder, it’s not really a disorder.

I try very hard to not be cynical, and I can assure you we have reason to be skeptical, especially when the result of a statement like this is adding millions of people as customers for blood pressure medication and silly advice like “lose weight, exercise, eat less sodium”. Not because this is bad advice, but because of the way it’s presented to the public and the inability for the medical profession to take behavior change seriously or their complete lack of training in making this advice a priority.

The most common cause of death in the US by far, is heart disease.

Are we supposed to listen to the heart disease experts who seem to have an interest in keeping their disease in the number one spot? My intention in this article is to make you upset, anxious and angry. All of us are affected by heart disease, which is a completely unnecessary disease. As is type 2 diabetes and of course they are both parts of the same problem.

Why does your chiropractor care so much about your blood pressure.

Because the single over arching premise of the chiropractic profession is that your body and your nervous system must be able to communicate without interference for proper health and wellbeing. Physical interference with communication is usually at the level of the spine. Thats why chiropractors adjust the spine. However one can have chemical interference with communication and sometimes that interference comes from the medications we take. No where is this better illustrated than blood pressure medication, especially when improperly prescribed.

The most published cardiologist in the country, George Bakris, MD, director of the hypertension center at the University of Chicago Medical Center had published a study in the prestigious journal Hypertension, showing conclusively that chiropractic care was able to have a better impact on lowering blood pressure than 2 blood pressure medications taken at the same time.

This is relevant on many levels, but the one i’d like to highlight is the fact that the use of medication is barking up the wrong tree and asking the wrong questions. This article is not meant to be an argument for chiropractic care to be used as a “treatment” for high blood pressure. Quite the contrary, it’s an argument for asking different questions about how the body works and how your body makes decisions based on innate intelligence that may have taken millions of years to develop. The idea that the body makes stupid mistakes regarding blood pressure that needs to be corrected by blocking the innate intelligence responsible for all life on this planet for the past 600 million years, with a chemical makes little sense.

Adding insult to injury. Does your dr. or nurse know how to check blood pressure?

The associated press reported in 2017 that the majority of doctors and medical professionals are not checking your blood pressure properly. You may be put on medications that block how your body meets its energy demands, based on a test that is likely to be inaccurate.

What do you need to know

Rules for the patient (You)

No exercise or caffeine for at least 30 minutes before your blood pressure is checked
Empty your bladder before having blood pressure checked
Sit in chair with back supported, feet flat on ground not crossed
Relax and don’t talk for 5 minutes before the test

Rules for the doctor or medical professional

Do not check blood pressure while lying down or sitting unsupported on an exam table
Check both sides.
Do not make determination about blood pressure unless you have an average of 3 readings over 3 separate days.
Make sure the cuff is making contact with the skin. Do not measure blood pressure over clothes.

Blood pressure not taken properly can lead to unnecessary recommendations for taking medications that will create a disconnect between your body’s perceived demand for energy and its ability to deliver fuel based on those demands. Remember, blood carries glucose, fatty acids and oxygen. The fuel your cells need to produce energy. Blood pressure determines the rate in which you can deliver fuel.