hello all you healthy blood pressure warriors my name is ingrid and i want to welcome you to the healthy blood pressure dot com channel your blood pressure has two numbers the upper number is called systolic blood pressure it measures the force your heart exerts on the walls of your arteries each time it beats and the lower reading is known as diastolic blood pressure it measures the force your heart exerts on the walls of your arteries in between beats for someone with high blood pressure both numbers could be elevated when both blood pressure numbers are high
it's a simpler case for the doctors to prescribe medications they would treat it with a drug that lowers both numbers however there's another condition where the upper reading is high and the lower number is either normal or low the treatment process becomes complicated in such situations doctors usually take a cautioned approach when dealing with such patients they start with lower doses of medications it's so that the diastolic pressure doesn't drop too low while keeping the systolic blood pressure somewhat under control this has been the general practice because traditionally the medical community thought that diastolic blood
pressure shouldn't go too low otherwise it could raise the risk of a heart attack but now new research shows that this might not be the case let's look at the details of this study and then talk about its significance details of the study in november 2020 researchers published the study in a prestigious circulation journal circulation is the official journal of the american heart association and its council on basic cardiovascular sciences scientists from the nui yahweh harvard medical school and john hopkins university ran this study dr bill mcavoy who is a professor of preventive cardiology at
nui led the research along with dr battle more than 47 000 patients worldwide participated in this study the research looked at their genetic and survival data the study was about understanding the link between low diastolic blood pressure and the risk of a heart attack the analysis concluded that the risk of heart attack reduces consistently with every unit of decrease in the systolic blood pressure this is true even for those who have a lower than normal diastolic blood pressure reading so what's the significance of the study untreated high blood pressure can lead to more serious and
life-threatening conditions these conditions are primarily as a high risk factor of heart attacks and linked to kidney brain and other diseases but even while treating high blood pressure with medications doctors have to be extra cautious this has long been the norm for those with a high upper reading and a low lower blood pressure reading being careful with the dosage was essential this is because they previously thought that a diastolic blood pressure below 70 or over 90 would be dangerous for the heart consequently some adults with persistently high systolic blood pressure may have been under treated
this brought on some risk with low dose medications the upper reading may reduce but only slightly with the information available doctors were rightly more focused on maintaining the lower number above 70. this often meant the upper number might remain above normal and that's the kind of risk doctors had to take with such a risk came more frequent monitoring also frequent adjustments and dosages were common with the new study the entire outlook changes doctors can now focus on and prescribe medications to lower systolic blood pressure only they need not worry about the diastolic blood pressure going
down this is because the study shows that even if the lower reading fell below 50 it doesn't cause any significant issues for the heart so now doctors can focus on the systolic blood pressure during treatment and ensure that it's maintained at a desirable level with less risk this is what dr bill mcavoy talks about when he says quote we now have detailed research based on genetics that provides doctors with much needed clarity on how to treat patients who have a pattern of high systolic values the top reading for blood pressure but low values for the
diastolic or bottom reading my advice now to gps is to treat their patients with high blood pressure to a systolic level of between 100 and 130 where possible and without side effects and to not worry about the diastolic blood pressure value unquote in summary more than one out of every five women and one out of every four men are affected by high blood pressure high blood pressure is a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes worldwide it can also affect the brain and the kidneys under-treated high blood pressure is often as risky as untreated hypertension
but traditional treatment for people with high systolic pressure and low diastolic pressure was difficult doctors had to balance between lowering the upper number and increasing the low number thanks to the new study doctors can now be freer in their treatment approach they can now prescribe medications to control the higher number only this approach reduces complications in the treatment process it's also a breather for the patient they may need to monitor their numbers less frequently and they don't have to live with a risk of under-treated high blood pressure the study has provided much needed clarity on
treating this section of people at risk do note that this study is not for those who have high diastolic numbers that's still a cause of concern and one that doctors will continue to focus on bringing down to a normal level hi there if you suffer from high blood pressure like i do and you want to receive my educational videos about how to lower your blood pressure i'd like to ask you to do three simple things right now number one click the subscribe button right there and then number two click on the bell icon right down
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