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Ground Report

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Hypertension is a Killer

| Health & Science

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When we dig deeply into research information, we find that most diseases have common roots and common remedies.  There are common threads that run between all diseases including the big five.  The basics for better health also have their common threads, including the basic five remedies, weight loss, stopping smoking and other tobacco related habits, controlling alcoholic consumption, changing the diet and beginning an exercise program.
 
One of the big five diseases is high blood pressure.  There are different types of hypertension, high blood pressure.  Each has its core causes and each must be looked at differently for remedy.  It may be possible, with your doctors help, to lower both high blood pressure and the use of drugs.
 
If you have high blood pressure in both numbers, systolic and diastolic, you’re probably suffering from what is known as benign essential hypertension.  All the research I found stated this type of hypertension had a direct connection with, and the root causes were, high blood sugar, kidney malfunction and heart problems.
 
The individual who has a high diastolic number (the second number), has a root cause connected with the kidneys or liver.  This type of hypertension is often referred to as hepatic, portal or renal hypertension.  The liver is the body’s master chemist.  If you are pouring chemicals in faster than the liver can detoxify them, health declines.  If the kidneys, or liver, are on overload, congested or functioning poorly, it will be impossible to lower the blood pressure without suppressing the heart, which is what most blood pressure medications do.

If you have a high systolic number, it can indicate a liver problem and clogged arteries, astherosclerotic hypertension.

If you find your hypertension has emotional origins it is possible to have either one or both numbers high.  This type, emotional hypertension, is usually accompanied by low libido and chronic stress.
 
All types respond well to the basic five and those who suffer from emotional hypertension should include relaxation techniques and instruction in correct deep breathing.

Several studies have shown that ginseng increases the conversion of the amino acid L-arginine to nitric acid, which relaxes the blood vessels.  Nitric acid and its’ effects, improve blood flow to the heart and is a potent antioxidant providing free radical protection.  Other research showed that ginseng acts much like the popular calcium beta blocker drugs used to treat high blood pressure.  The same research showed ginseng also reduces the stickiness of blood platelets, which increases blood flow and lowers the chance of blood clots. The herb doesn’t appear to exhibit any of the harmful side effects commonly associated with drugs.  Another research source cautions against using ginseng if you have high blood pressure.

When blood pressure surges, arteries closest to the heart are damaged.  The body repairs arterial damage with calcium and cholesterol.  Calcium and cholesterol patches result in blockages that cause angina and heart attacks.  If the artery breaks, strokes occur.

Regular intake of garlic delays the natural stiffening of the arteries.  Individuals who took 300 milligrams of garlic a day had far greater arterial health than those who didn’t.  Other research showed that a clove of garlic per day, either raw or cooked as long as the garlic is peeled at least 15 minutes before cooking, stopped cholesterol from accumulating in blood vessels.

Forty research studies showed Ginko Biloba to protect against nerve tissue after seizures and strokes.  In France doctors use Ginko Biloba after surgery to prevent the severe free radical damage that occurs when the heart is filled with blood and then restarted.

Various research shows individuals with higher levels of glutathione had lower incidences of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Citrus pulp, and grapefruit in particular, contains large amounts of quercetin and pectin.  The combination of pulp and pectin has been proven to unclog arteries.  Quercetin and vitamin E help block the formation of foam cells which start the process of atherosclerosis.  The forming of foam cells is connected with oxidization of the LDL form of cholesterol.  Higher intake of flavonoid rich foods such as grapefruit, black tea, onions and apples have been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack by 50%.   

All research information shows that if the five basics are adhered to, improved health will follow.

 

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About Larry Miller

I was born in Los Angeles in 1940. My father was a fighter pilot instructor during WWll and we moved from coast to coast, maybe that’s where I got the nomad in my blood. After graduating from high school in 1958 I joined the Marines. That lifestyle wasn’t for me and upon my discharge I went on with my life, and have never looked back. I worked briefly for a Caterpillar dealer in Riverside, CA before moving back to N. California where I was a welder and truck driver for a chemical company. Truck driving wasn’t my calling anymore than being in the Marines, and I went back to work for another Caterpillar dealer steam cleaning dirty tractor parts and welding. They sent me to schools, lots and lots of schools. I spent as much time going to trade schools as I did at work. I went from cleaning parts to apprentice field mechanic, to mechanic to the parts department to satellite store manager in less than two years. They wanted me to move to Sacramento and be a salesman: I moved to Oregon to learn to commune with nature. I went to work for another heavy equipment dealer and was later contacted by the World’s largest Lorraine Crane dealer and offered the position of purchasing agent and general parts manager. In 1967 I was offered a line of automotive parts and supplies and went into business for myself. My business revolved around eleven race cars that we maintained for others, driving race cars professionally and maintaining high end sports cars. I was a championship and regional champion driver. My business was the largest import parts and service, non dealer, in the state until I sold it in 1979. We went sailing in 79, first to Mexico and then Hawaii. I was an award winning Trans-Pacific sailor and sailor of the year, Hawaii, Island of Kauai. An opportunity presented itself in Hawaii during 1981 and I was back in business, importing Japanese auto body and hard parts. I also felt the pull to write and began freelancing for magazines and newspapers in 1982. My main focus in my articles is, and always has been, health, wellness and fitness. Most of us have heard the saying, “Time is all we have.” I disagree. Our health is all we have, because without our health, we have no time. I was a US Olympic team hopeful in racewalking and held all the records for the state of Hawaii. As a sponsored athlete in my forties, I finished first in nine marathons in a row in my division, qualified for the Ironman® and was the state USCF cycling champion five times in Hawaii and Oregon. Celinda and I were married in 1988 after a three year engagement. We sold our businesses and organic farm and sailed back to Oregon. After our sailboat boat was sold, we moved to Joseph, Oregon, two miles from the trailhead into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. We were caregivers for my mother the last ten years she was alive. We moved to New Mexico in 1995 because it was too cold for my mom in Oregon during the winters. Celinda designed, and I engineered and built our strawbale house. I began writing the weekly health column for a local newspaper in 1996, and still do. In 2000, I took the summer off to do a four month, 4000 mile, hike, bike and kayak odyssey. I’d been writing health, fitness and sports articles since 1982 and the journey produced a full-length, nonfiction, first person adventure book, Yol Bolsun, May There Be A Road, which can be bought from Amazon.com and others over the Internet. The summer of 2001 was spent hiking. kayaking, fishing and exploring the southwest. In 2002 Celinda and I spent the summer in Canada learning the hospitality business at a resort in preparation for doing promotion for the resort in the US. Most of 2003 was spent reestablishing the trees and landscape that had died during the stay in Canada. We had a house sitter and the house sitter had an ex-husband, and that’s a long story. In July of 2004 I did a solo kayak trip on the Snake River, taking pictures, writing articles and pencil sketching the journey. I hope to do another kayak adventure on the Snake River during the summer of 2008, on the section I missed in 2000 and 2004. In 2005, I returned to Canada to the resort where we’d spent 2002. I was supposed to be there for the month of June. I’d contacted people I’d met in 2002 and they came back to Canada to fish, hike and spend time at the resort, Echo Valley Ranch and Spa, while I was there. My one month became five and then it was off to Spain to do the El Camino de Santiago as a travel companion with one of the guests who’d returned to Canada in June. During the summer of 2006 a friend from Ireland, who I’d met in Spain the year before, came to visit in NM and we fished, hiked and explored the White Mountains of AZ. He’d never slept out in the wild in a tent before, and it was quite an experience, for both of us. My newspaper articles were put on the Internet beginning in 2002. I was asked to give public speaking engagements, photo and video presentations, on various subjects for the library in Deming, NM and continue to do so. In 2006 I videoed and produced a DVD for the Smithsonian Institute’s travel exhibit “Between Fences.” NMFILMS had a conference by invitation only, which I attended. While attending the conference, I realized that film making wasn’t what I wanted to do but I still wanted to use my sixteen years of experience and enjoyment of videoing and photography. During the winter of 2005, I discovered that no one on record had ever run from the Arizona border to the Texas border, a distance of 165 miles. During the spring and summer of 2006 I trained for the run and the run was completed in October, 2006. In late 2005, I began building and maintaining websites incorporating all the things I enjoyed about video, photography, travel and the out of doors. 2007 has been a summer of upgrading the home and property which resulted in a downgrading of my enthusiasm for being located in one place. If we don’t like what’s happening in our life, we need to change what we’re doing. Celinda and I are ready to pull up roots and move on. I guess I’ve come full circle. I’m ready to revert back to my childhood, and a nomadic lifestyle.

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