For people with high blood pressure, medication sometimes is not sufficient to lower it to healthy levels. Consequently, they have to find additional ways help lower their blood pressure. Uncontrolled and prolonged high blood pressure can lead to serious complications; including, kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke. That is why you need to do every little bit you can to bring it under control. Here are some natural ways to lower your blood pressure that are easy to incorporate into your daily routine.

1. A Piece Of Dark Chocolate Will Keep The Doctor Away.

According to recent report in the Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association, eating a small piece of dark chocolate everyday contributed to chemical changes in the body that help dilate blood vessels and lower blood pressure. Several research point to the conclusion that the antioxidant-rich compound found in dark chocolate known as flavonoids, have a healthy effect on blood vessels as well as glucose metabolism.

Even better news for chocolate lovers is the fact that dark chocolate contains more flavoniods than any other food; including green tea, red wine, and blueberries. A little dark chocolate is good for you, but a lot of it is not because chocolate is high in calories. Also, to obtain the blood pressure lowering effect of dark chocolate, you need to look for one that has at least 70 percent cocoa content. Dark chocolate is delicious but sometimes, it may be a bit bitter so, you may have to try different brands until you find one that you really like.

2. Potassium: A Magic Mineral.

Potassium is a key nutrient in maintaining the electrolyte balance which regulates heart and muscle contraction. It also plays an important role in maintaining proper fluid exchange. A study conducted at Duke University shows that daily intake of Potassium supplements can significantly reduce high blood pressure. African-Americans showed the biggest drop. Their blood pressure went down almost 20 points, causing the speculation that this sub-group might be particularly sensitive to the blood pressure lowering effects of potassium.

It is recommended that you try to get your potassium from food. Dietary sources of potassium include apple juice, apricots, avocado, bananas, legumes, beets, cantaloupe, carrots, oranges, pears, white and sweet potatoes, raisins, salmon, sardines, watermelon, and winter squash.

3. Water: Nature’s Miracle Medicine

When your body is in a state of dehydration, your blood pressure will increase dramatically. In fact chronic dehydration is the cause of chronic high blood pressure. Dr. Bathmanghelidj, the author of You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty, says that when the body is lacking water, it attempts to hold on to the available water supplies by retaining salt. When the body starts to retain water instead of letting it flow normally, blood pressure rises. However, this increased water retention is simply a preventive measure the body uses to protect the vital cells within it from becoming totally dehydrated. Water is one of the most effective ways to lower blood pressure.

Adequate water intake, and a bit of good pure natural salt such as Himalayan Crystal salt, will balance the fluid intake inside and outside the cells. This may sound contradictory to what you havebeen told, but salt is essential for life, we cannot live without it. However, there is a big difference between the common processed salt most people are accustomed to, and pure natural Himalayan salt which contains 85 trace minerals that your body needs. Intake of Himalayan Crystal salt will regulate the water content throughout your body, and promote a healthy PH balance.

Make drinking adequate amounts of water a daily habit. Not only will you be lowering your blood pressure, but a lot of other body functions will improve. You will feel more alert and energetic, less depressed, your skin will glow, and those nagging aches and pain will go away.

4. Breathe Deep For Your Heart

New research indicates slow breathing may lower blood pressure, even if practiced for only a few minutes per day. Take a slow deep breath, expanding the diaphragm, and the abdomen then, exhale even slower making sure you empty all the air from the lungs. The goal is to develop a rhythmic slow, and deep breathing pattern of less than 10 breaths per minute.

At first, you may find it difficult to develop a rhythmic pattern, but as you continue to breath in, and out slowly, you will eventually develop a healthy breathing pattern. Breathing that slowly for a few minutes several times throughout the day is another way to lower blood pressure that many people find very effective.

5. Walking Is Good For You

Many of us live a very sedentary lifestyle. We sit down all day at work and then, we spend our time at home sitting down. Over time, this inactivity can lead to many health complications caused primarily by excess weight. The ongoing day-to-day strain that excess weight puts on the entire cardiovascular system is what causes blood pressure to reach dangerous heights. Exercise plays a key role in lowering high blood pressure; however, many people find it difficult to engage in a regular exercise program because of lack of time. The good news is that you’re not required to do prolonged, and strenuous exercise to benefit from it.

A recent study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health revealed that as little as 30 minutes of walking three times a week, even if it was broken into 10-minute walks throughout the day, was enough to have a significant effect on lowering blood pressure, and weight loss.

The above 5 approaches are proven ways to lower blood pressure. However, consistency is the only way to benefit from them long term. Make them part of your daily lifestyle routine for a healthy heart, and normal blood pressure.

Source by Cris Oakley

There are lots of similarities between internal hemorrhoids and rectal polyps; both diseases affect the ano-rectal area and they are outgrowths from within the lower rectum.

Rectal polyps are fleshy growths situated in the lining of the large intestine; they can also arise in other parts of the colon. These growths are very common and their incidence increases with age; about 50% of people over the age of 50 years will have at least one form of these growths.

The main danger of having these growths is that some of them can become cancerous when they transform into more deadly cancers of the colon.

Hemorrhoids on the other hand are basically painful, swollen and inflamed veins of the lower portion of the rectum or anus. These inflamed venous tissues are very common in pregnant women and in elderly people. They occur as a result of increased pressure within the veins of the anus which causes them to swell and become painful.

Both of these diseases can be asymptomatic and they could also present with similar symptoms of painless intermittent rectal bleeding. There are however some marked differences between these two similar conditions:

1-Rectal polyps are benign tumors that could transform into malignant tumors over time; this is why doctors usually cut a small portion of these growths which they send to the laboratory for examination under the microscope to check for the presence of malignant and cancerous cells.

Internal piles on the other hand are not really tumors; they are swollen masses of over dilated veins and their surrounding inflamed tissues. They do not become malignant and they are not usually life threatening.

2-Polyps cause mainly abdominal pain while hemorrhoid pain causes more of pain in the butt. Piles also lead to constipation whereas constipation actually leads to piles.

3-Because of their potential to transform into malignant tumors, polyps are treated mainly by surgical excision. If they can be totally removed their chances of future transformation into malignant tumors is greatly reduced.

Hemorrhoids however are best treated by a simple lifestyle and diet changes in combination with the use of herbal remedies. Surgery is only reserved for the few severe cases that were most likely not treated on time till they developed complications.

4-You can prevent piles successfully by adopting simple lifestyle changes that includes simple exercises, diet changes and the consumption of high fiber foods. Lifestyle and diet changes on the other hand have no effect on the successful treatment and outcome of rectal polyps.

Source by Bello Gbenga

Many individuals that suffer from multiple sclerosis also suffer from a type of sensitivity to various temperatures. This is especially true if the temperature is warm. Individuals may experience what has been identified by medical professionals as pseudoexacerbation. This is a physiological based change that an individual experiences when they are subjected to high temperatures or heat.

The heat may be part of the person’s environment, or their internal body temperature if there is an infection in the body. If you have multiple sclerosis, it is important that you learn as much as you possibly can regarding temperature sensitivity. When the body reacts to heat, it could result in your experiencing the devastating symptoms associated with our disease.

Symptoms of Temperature Sensitivity

There are many different symptoms associated with temperature sensitivity in those that have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Typically, these are symptoms that the patient has experienced in the past that are reoccurring due to the exposure to heat.

Many may describe the symptoms as those that are experienced during an attack of the multiple sclerosis. The symptoms may be mild for some patients, and they may be severe to other patients. The following symptoms may be experienced:

• Many patients find that they experience a decrease in the area of basic cognitive functions. These functions include, but are not limited to: the thought process, remembering, the perceptions that the individual experiences, and reasoning activities.

• It is very common for individuals to experience fatigue as a direct result of an extended level of exposure to heat. Fatigue is both a psychological and physiological form of exhaustion.

• Muscle weakness is common among those that have been subjected to increased temperatures. This weakness may be accompanied by tremors throughout the body.

• Many will find that their arms and legs become numb in higher temperatures.

• It is very common for the vision to become affected in high temperatures. The most common complication experienced by multiple sclerosis patients is blurred vision.

The Reason behind Temperature Sensitivity in Multiple Sclerosis

The central nervous system in the multiple sclerosis patients’ body experiences a condition that is often referred to as demyelination. Myelin is a protective covering that is part of every single nerve cell in our body. The body literally attacks these nerves cells and damages the myelin.

As a result, the communication that goes from one nerve cell to another and to and from the brain is either completely interrupted or it is drastically delayed. This means that the body is unable to properly cool itself when exposed to heat. As a result, the individual that suffers from MS suffers from the symptoms that are common to the condition.

Source by Anne Ahira