Chinese Medicine Net

When the sphygmomanometer (the device used to measure blood pressure) shows 140/90 mmHg or above, your blood pressure is high. If it shows a high number on at least two more occasions, you are diagnosed as having high blood pressure, or hypertension. High blood pressure affects about 50 million people in the United States. Many Americans tend to develop high blood pressure as they get older.ÿ An alarming number, about half, of Americans age 60 and over have high blood pressure. High blood pressure greatly increases your chances of developing cardiovascular diseases, and it is the most important risk factor for stroke. Once developed, high blood pressure lasts a lifetime. However, high blood pressure can be controlled by losing weight, increasing physical activity, eating healthy, taking western medicine and/or applying TCM therapies.

Ancient Chinese Medicine, which had already been in existence for more than 2,000 years, had no word for high blood pressure since the measurement method for blood pressure only appeared in the early 1900’s. Instead, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) categorized this disease by its major symptoms â⿬⿿ dizziness and headache in the earlier stage, and phlegm-dampness at a later stage or when stroke develops. The etiology of high blood pressure in TCM is described mainly as deficiency of Qi (vital energy) and blood (the material of Qi) plus maladjustment of Yin and Yang of heart, liver and kidney. TCM doctors believe that depression and anger could cause body Yang excess or upward harassment of liver Yang or fire. Because of the deficiency of liver-Ying and kidney-Ying, hyperactivity of the liver-Yang and kidney-Yang will appear, when this happens liver-wind is likely to be activated and will cause transformation of fire and development of phlegm*. Plus, obesity and high intake of fatty food are causes of stagnation and obstruction of phlegm and turbidity in the human body and lead to impeded Qi and impeded blood circulation. All of those factors bring Qi and blood to rush upward, resulting high blood pressure.

To treat high blood pressure, the principle of TCM treatment would be tranquilizing the liver-wind and nourishing Yin and suppressing the excessive Yang. Acupuncture and herb medicine are both found to be effective in lowering blood pressure. Many foods such as Chinese celery, honey, Mung beans, water chestnut, turnip, winter melon, wood ear, seaweed, Chinese hawthorn, etc., have also been found to have a blood pressure lowering function and are the preferred method used to control the early stages of high blood pressure.