Homeopathy for Hypertension

One of the biggest health threats to people of developed countries is hypertension or abnormally high blood pressure. This is one area that homeopathy can help with but in an entirely different way than the allopathic approach of drug therapy.

Blood pressure varies by time of day and by individual to individual. It is normal for fluctuations in blood pressure to occur in response to many different changes in our world. Stress is the greatest cause of abnormal blood pressure and is often a silent response until we are made aware of it.

• Normal blood pressure readings are below 130 over 85.
• High normal readings are from 130-139 over 85-89.
• Stage I mild Hypertension is 140-159 over 90-99.
• Stage II Moderate Hypertension is 160-179 over 100-109.
• Stage III Severe Hypertension is 180 or higher over 110 or higher.

Complications as a result of hypertension can be severe and accumulate over time. Individuals with primary hypertension (hypertension without a known cause, which comprise of 90% of all hypertension cases in America, over 50 million people) have an increased risk of stroke, aneurysm, heart attack, heart failure, and kidney damage. Diagnosis and treatment are necessary. Hypertension has earned the title of "the silent killer" because it often goes undiagnosed and has relatively few external symptoms. Secondary symptoms that may be associated to hypertension are headaches, nosebleeds, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and blurred vision.

The main causes of hypertension are:

• Obesity – appears over two times as often in obesity
• Poor diet – high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
• Age – appearing in adults over 40 years more frequently.
• Race – More blacks than white people with higher related consequences.
• Heredity – Hypertension runs in families. Children of hypertensive parents are twice as likely to become hypertensive themselves.
• Smoking – Nicotine enhances the sympathetic nervous system's vasoconstrictor effects.
• Stress – Particularly at risk are those people classified as "Hot Reactors" whose blood pressure rises during every stressful event.

Standard allopathic treatment of hypertension is through drug therapy. There are many different classes of drugs and approaches to particular drugs to treat hypertension. Many have unwanted direct effects of the drug and can complicate an already confused expression of disease.

Lifestyle changes are the very best ways to treat hypertension. Those with a sedentary lifestyle will need to develop an exercise program to bring tone to the muscles and the heart. Weight management through proper diet will have the best outcome. Stopping smoking and limiting alcohol will also contribute to basic healthy lifestyle changes. And we must not forget stress; the one word that never describes the actual situation but is used so often to describe conditions in life. Those situations that are stressful need to be managed in a different way. Daily meditation and positive visualization are two of the best ways to modify global stress. Particular stresses that arise repeatedly from situations in a person's life need to be examined closely, and new ways to deal with ongoing problems need to be developed.

Because hypertension is very related to lifestyle and does not produce many outward symptoms, most people do not respond to the heroic task of changing their life. The answer is usually found in drugs and they continue to live as they were. This is never the best solution. This is where homeopathy can help in ways that no drug ever could.

Because homeopathy treats the whole person and is a remedy for their life, understanding the unique ways a person responds to the situations in their life that contribute to their stress, is the very best approach. Try to understand what their stress is all about and find remedies for the mental/emotional states that create stress. When you help a person heal from these challenges in their life, they will have the ability to make better choices and can more easily make lifestyle changes as well. The underlying causes can be helped with proper homeopathic remedies.

Here are a few rubrics based on hypertension in the Complete 2009 Repertory and Murphy’s II Repertory:

• B; Blood; HYPERTENSION; high blood pressure (80) : acon., adon., adren., agar., aml-n., aran., arg-n., ars., asar., aster., aur., aur-i., aur-m., aur-m-n., bar-c., bar-m., calcul-r., calc., calc-f., calc-p., caust., chin-s., choc., coff., con., cortiso., Crat., cupr., cupr-acet., cupr-ar., dig., fl-ac., glon., grat., ign., iod., iris, kali-ar., kali-c., kali-m., kali-p., Lach., lat-m., lyc., lycps., mag-c., naja, Nat-m., nit-ac., nux-v., ph-ac., phos., pic-ac., pitu-gl., plb., psor., puls., rad-br., reser., rauw., rhus-t., sang., scopo., sec., sep., sil., squil., stront-c., stroph., sulph., sumb., tab., thal., thlaspi, thuj., valer., vanad., Verat., verat-v., visc.
• Clinical; HYPERTENSION (142) : acan-pl., acon., adon., Adren., agar., aids, ALL-S., alli-m., aml-n., anh., ant-ar., aran., aran-ix., Arg-n., arn., ars., asar., aster., atro., Aur., aur-br., aur-i., aur-m., aur-m-n., Bar-c., bar-m., bell., boerh., borag., butho-t., Cact., cadm., Calc., calc-f., calc-p., calcul-r., cale-z., carb-v., carc., caruk-b., Caust., chel., chin-s., chir-f., chloram., chlorpr., choc., coff., con., convo-s., cortico., cortiso., Crat., cupr., cupr-acet., cupr-ar., cyna., cyt-l., dig., EPHIN., ergot., esp-g., eup-per., feld., fl-ac., gels., gins., glon., glyc-g., Grat., hura, hyosin., Ign., interf., iod., ion-rad., ipom., iris, jug-c., Kali-c., Kali-chl., kali-p., kali-sal., kres., LACH., lat-m., lepro., Lyc., lycps., mag-c., mand., mangi., meli., methys., morg., naja, Nat-m., nit-ac., NUX-V., onop., parth., passi., Ph-ac., phase., Phos., pic-ac., pitu-p., Plb., plb-i., psil-s., Psor., Puls., rad-br., Rauw., reser., rhus-t., sang., saroth., scarl., Sec., sed-ac., Sep., ser-ang., Sil., squil., Stront-c., Stront-i., stroph., SULPH., Sumb., tab., Tama., thal., thlaspi, Thuj., thyr., tity-s., valer., vanad., VERAT., verat-v., VISC.
• Clinical; HYPERTENSION; Hypotension, before (2) : butho-t., cyna.
• Clinical; HYPERTENSION; Old people, in (1) : GLON.
• Clinical; HYPERTENSION; Redness of face, with (4) : aster., bell., glon., rauw.
• Clinical; HYPERTENSION; Sudden rise of (1) : coff.
• Clinical; HYPERTENSION; Vertigo, in (3) : cyna., nat-m., VISC.
• Heart & Circulation; TENSION; Circulation; increased, arteries (5) : chlor., chloram., Coff., feld., gels.

It becomes obvious that those remedies that affect blood and circulation and those that contribute to the condition would be very applicable. Below are some remedies you may find useful, but does not complete the list of all remedies that could be applicable:

• Adrenalinum – Bronzed skin. Rapid pulse. Rapid emaciation. Contracts dilated blood vessels.
• Coffea Cruda – Hyperactive mind. Sleepless from excitement. Oversensitive. Intolerance to pain. Consolation or sympathy aggravates.
• Crataegus – Weak heart. Weak constitution. Sudden weakness. Hurried feeling with rapid heartbeat. Mental confusion.
• Cortisonum – Unstable moods alternating between euphoria and melancholy. Alternating excitability with fatigue and weariness. Heavy, confused, irritable, impatient. Memory weak.
• Digitalis – Slow, irregular, and intermittent pulse. Fluttering of the heart. Anxiety about the future. Every emotional shock strikes him in the epigastrium. Ill effects of high living. Sensation as if the heart stood still.
• Glonoinum – Bursting or expanding sensations. Vertigo on rising. Head feels like it will explode. Surges of blood felt in the body. Violent pulsations. Frantic with pain. Loses himself in well-known streets. Shock, sudden attacks of terror. Afraid to go out into the street. Very irritable. Head heavy, but cannot lay it on the pillow.
• Lachesis – Great loquacity. Jealousy. Jumps from subject to subject. Religious insanity. Fears to sleep, that the heart will stop. Derangement of time sense. Wants to be off or hide. Morning aggravations. Left sided. Better from a discharge.
• Natrum Muriaticum – Ill effects of grief. Retention. Consolations aggravates. Cannot cry or weep in front of others. Hatred of those who offend them. Excess sodium intake, desire salt.
• Nux Vomica – Overindulgence. Too much mental work and lack of physical exercise. Too much alcohol. Irritable. zealous, fiery temperament. Dictatorial. Very sensitive to light, sound, and odors. Impatient. Angry. Spiteful. Reproaches others. Consolation aggravates.

The homeopath must not forget that the person is not their dis-ease. No remedy should be prescribed for the dis-ease only, unless it is a one-sided case. Helping a person to make lifestyle changes will have the greatest effect on successful treatment. Expecting a homeopathic remedy to behave like a drug is not realistic and not good homeopathy. Listen well to why the person responds as they do in stressful situations. Understand the sensation they experience. Many times a remedy that will be best for the person will not even come up under hypertension, yet the person can improve. Use good case-receiving skills and the person will tell you everything you need to know to help them. Homeopathy can help in a way that drugs could never help.