Sometimes, things are just easier when put together — like combining shampoo and conditioner into one bottle or when Smucker’s brainstormed swirling jelly up the sides of its peanut butter jars.
Now, the latest and greatest combo coming down the pike is Big Pharma’s own version of “convenience” — an easy way to lower your blood pressure by using a trio of drugs combined in one little pill.
I guess drugmakers think that’s got the PB&J combo beat!
But where drugs are concerned, more is definitely not better. And where your blood pressure is concerned, experts are saying not so fast. In fact, you may not even have hypertension to begin with.
Three times the threat
Whipping up drug combos is a favorite pastime in pharma land.
We’ve told you about the polypill and the quadpill. Well, the latest concoction is the “triple pill,” a combo of three blood pressure meds – telmisartan, amlodipine, and chlorthlidone.
Researchers out of Australia were so excited about this witches’ brew of drugs that they wasted no time in presenting their findings at the recent meeting of the American College of Cardiology, saying the triple pill is an “opportunity to leapfrog over traditional approaches.”
Side effects? Not to worry! The triple pill has been found to be no worse than other blood-pressure meds.
That, however, isn’t saying very much, as any one of the drugs it contains can cause dizziness, falls, fainting, swelling of the ankles and feet, dehydration, and kidney and vision problems.
One of the drugs in this terrible threesome even comes with a warning about it possibly triggering a heart attack!
But while all of that back-patting and happy talk about the triple pill was going on, some heart experts were busy warning about the frightening new blood pressure guidelines that came out last November.
As I told you back then, it was announced with great fanfare and press coverage that groups such as the American Heart Association officially changed the definition of what is considered to be “high blood pressure.”
And as a result, millions of Americans woke up one day to discover that their blood pressure was suddenly considered “high.”
For example, if you’re 60 or older, the previous expert opinion was that drugs were not needed as long as your readings were at or below 150/90. If you’re under 60, the “no need to treat” number was a reading no higher than 140/90.
But then, the AHA and other pharma-friendly groups lowered the bar in defining hypertension.
Now, you can be labeled as having it – at any age — if your readings go a smidgen over 130/80!
End of story? Not by a long shot.
While Big Pharma bigwigs are practically salivating over how there will be no shortage of patients to take this this new med, authorities are coming forward in droves to warn that the resulting “harms” don’t justify the “presumed benefits” of labeling close to half of the U.S. population “as unwell.”
The latest to break ranks with the AHA is Dr. Robert Phillips, a leading cardiologist and chief medical officer of Houston Methodist Hospitals, who went so far as to issue a press release a couple of weeks ago “challenging” these new numbers.
While Dr. Phillips advocates lower blood pressure readings as being healthier, he also notes that getting there with “aggressive treatments” (a.k.a. drugs), can come along with “serious adverse events,” such as kidney damage and failure, dizziness, falls, fainting, muscle spasms, and weakness.
And that’s something we’ve warned you about right here in the eAlert. Not only are blood pressure-lowering drugs some of the most dangerous ones you can take, but artificially knocking down your readings with these meds is especially risky for seniors.
But whatever your age, these meds are bad news — and not something you should simply accept without a thorough understanding of what your readings really are.
And if your blood pressure does need to be lowered, you can always concoct your own trifecta of natural treatments with some of Mother Nature’s very own remedies, such as:
- Omega-3s: Since inflammation is also thought to trigger hypertension, upping your intake of omega-3 fatty acids either with diet (particularly fatty fish like wild-caught salmon and tuna) or a high quality fish-oil supplement is one way to get your numbers down.
- Garlic: Studies have found that the active ingredient in garlic, allicin, can reduce your blood pressure AND lower cholesterol and triglycerides as well!
- Beets: Numerous studies, including ones in mainstream journals such as Hypertension, have found that the nitric oxide in beets can lower blood pressure and help your heart to receive more oxygen. You don’t have to worry about juicing your own, either, as ready-to-drink beet juice is easily available.
“Three-in-one pill shows promise in beating high blood pressure” Robert Preidt, March 13, 2018, HealthDay, consumer.healthday.com
