Feds’ crooked blood pressure advice could leave you with Alzheimer’s

Has the federal government just written you a one-way ticket to Alzheimer’s disease?

For years I’ve been warning you how the mainstream’s obsession with over-treating high blood pressure was unleashing a dementia and Alzheimer’s epidemic on America.

And I’ve told you how research has proven that popping pills to hit some magic number like 120/80 could destroy your brain.

But now the government’s top health agency is secretly working with billion-dollar drug companies to make sure millions of Americans start choking down two, three or even more blood pressure meds every single day.

It’s part of a conspiracy to protect billions in Big Pharma profits. Even if it steals your memories in the process.

SPRINTing to dementiaIf you ever needed proof that our government cares more about protecting Big Pharma’s bottom line than your health, well, the National Institutes of Health just laid its cards on the table.

But all I see is a pile of jokers.

The NIH zipped off a press release claiming its new research shows you should take three or more blood pressure meds to bring your systolic (top) number to 120 — or even lower.

It’s all based on a study called SPRINT. And that’s the right name for it, too, because the Feds couldn’t put out this health-wrecking information fast enough.

You see, SPRINT was supposed to be a multi-year study to compare people who had blood pressure readings in the 140 range with those who were pumped full of diuretics, ACE inhibitors and other meds to bring them down to that 120 “magic number.”

But the NIH actually stopped the study years early after it claimed it had all the evidence it needed that popping pills by the handful could lower your heart disease and stroke risk.

Dr. Gary Gibbons, head of the NIH Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said it was important to get this “potentially lifesaving information” in your hands as soon as possible.

Sure. This guy will be trying to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge next.

Because the NIH didn’t release this study early to save your life — it’s trying to protect billions in drug company sales! Even if it wrecks your brain.

You see, just last year an international research team from Cambridge, Brigham Young University and the University of Washington analyzed medical records for nearly 30,000 people.

They found that reducing your blood pressure too much can send your risk of Alzheimer’s through the roof!

And that makes sense. Because as you age, blood pressure that’s too low can literally starve your brain by reducing its blood supply.

That’s why this study — and plenty more linking low blood pressure to cognitive decline — led researchers to start suggesting that there is no reason for people who are over 60 to start on drugs unless their blood pressure is 150/90 or higher.

And you’d better believe that set off alarms in plenty of Big Pharma boardrooms. Two of the five most commonly prescribed drugs in America (lisinopril and metoprolol) are for blood pressure, and this one simple change to prescribing guidelines can cost Big Pharma a fortune.

So our government quietly worked with the drug companies to make sure that never happened.

You see, plenty of scientists have long criticized these government research panels for being a little too cozy with Big Pharma. And you should see the lineup the NIH put together for the SPRINT study.

Dr. Jackson T. Wright, one of the top researchers, consults for AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Merck and 16 other drug companies. He has grants and contracts with GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.

Another “principle investigator,” Dr. Alfred Cheung, gets consulting fees from drug makers Baxter and Amgen and speaking payments from Merck, a company he also owns stock in.

Now doctors like Wright and Cheung want you to throw out all the past research proving that over-treating your blood pressure can harm your brain. Even though they released the SPRINT study before they ever looked at side effects like dementia!

That’s no accident. And this may be some of the most crooked government research I’ve seen.

Especially if you’re over 60 and you’re blood pressure is just a little high, get a second opinion before you let any doc put you on meds.

Because you should never follow the Feds’ health advice until you follow the money first.

Sources:

“Major study supports aggressive blood pressure treatment, but don’t act on results yet” Sarah Hedgecock, September 11, 2015, Forbes, forbes.com