We recently got a question from a person taking three different medications for high blood pressure. Despite the piling up of antihypertensive drugs, the blood pressure was still not under control, and the letter writer wondered whether there were any natural approaches that could help.
As it turns out, there might be. We know that regular exercise and careful attention to a DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) can be helpful for moderately high blood pressure.
What Works for Resistant High Blood Pressure?
We don’t know, however, whether exercise, diet and weight loss, if appropriate, will be effective in managing resistant high blood pressure that remains stubbornly out of control despite the person taking two, three or sometimes four medications. There is a study underway to answer this question, however.
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have a rigorous randomized clinical trial planned (American Heart Journal, Nov., 2015). They are welcoming volunteers who have systolic blood pressure that is regularly above 140 mm Hg, even though the individuals are taking three or more medications at appropriate doses. It is expected that these participants will be overweight or obese, between the ages of 35 and 80, and currently in the habit of exercising less than 30 minutes a week.
What Will Happen?
What will these volunteers experience? Before they are randomized to the usual care arm or the intervention arm, they will be screened to make sure they qualify for the study and that they do not have kidney disease, thyroid disease or another condition that would interfere with the research.
Eating Right:
The study will last four months, during which time the volunteers randomized to the intervention will get training on how to follow a low-sodium DASH diet. They will also get weekly counseling to help with weight loss strategies.
Exercise:
The volunteers in the intervention arm will also have three supervised exercise sessions a week, with 10 minutes of warm-up, 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise and 10 minutes of cool-down exercise. The exercisers will be monitored to make sure their blood pressure doesn’t spike dangerously. They will also be provided with a plan they can follow on their own at home to maintain their fitness and weight control.
Participants in the other arm of the study will be encouraged to get to an appropriate weight and to exercise as possible, but there will not be any supervision of these efforts.
All participants will have their blood pressure monitored regularly since they all have resistant high blood pressure. They will all be followed up one year after starting the trial, regardless of which arm they were randomized to follow. The intention of this research is to provide both patients and clinicians with the information they need about how well (or not) this type of structure lifestyle change works for people with resistant high blood pressure
How to Sign Up:
If you have stubbornly high blood pressure and are interested in volunteering for the trial, you can make your inquiry online at sites.duke.edu.
