Other Names:
Low Blood Pressure
Symptoms:
There are generally few symptoms which will tend to alert you to the problem. There may be headache, shortness of breath, dizziness, inability to concentrate, or digestive disturbances. There can be low energy and dizzy feelings when you stand up fast from a lying down or sitting position, fainting, blurred vision, palpitations, inability to solve simple problems, and slurring of speech.
Cause:
The pressure at which the blood travels through the arteries is lower than normal, which means the blood is not circulating through the body quite as efficiently.
This is the "disease" which many people are thankful to have. High blood pressure can be a killer; low blood pressure is generally just something to live with.
A researcher who investigated the strange death of Pope John Paul I (who had low blood pressure and few other physical problems) asked 30 physicians and specialists whether low blood pressure would shorten life. Each one said it would tend to lengthen, rather than shorten, life expectancy.
For this reason, you will find that medical guides say relatively little about hypotension.
In some instances, low blood pressure is due to an impoverished diet, the existence of some chronic wasting disease, or some other condition that needs treatment on its own account. So it can be a symptom of some other problem (such as hypothyroidism).
Hypotension can be caused by prescribed drugs, kidney disease, low blood sugar, food allergies, dehydration, adrenal exhaustion, or hypothyroidism.
Treatment:
• Treatment, if needed, should be aimed at locating and eliminating the problem that hypotension is a symptom of.
• Take vitamin C, to bowel tolerance, and eight glasses of water each day. Obtain adequate rest at night.
• Eat garlic; it tends to normalize blood pressure to the level it should properly be.
• You may want to do the morning temperature test to determine whether you are hypothyroid (see "Hypothyroidism").
• Helpful herbs include ginseng, spring adonis, and rosemary.