Increasing the dietary potassium intake reduces the need for antihypertensive medication

Article Abstract:

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a disease that is intimately related to the balance of electrolytes (salts) in the body. It is known that excessive sodium intake can exacerbate hypertension, and reduced sodium intake is therapeutic. Conversely, epidemiological studies have reported that high blood pressure is correlated with low potassium intake; when potassium supplements are given as medication, they have been reported to reduce blood pressure. To determine whether increasing dietary potassium intake from natural food sources would reduce the need for antihypertensive medication, a randomized controlled trial was carried out involving 47 patients with well-controlled essential (of unknown cause) hypertension. Patients were assigned either to a group who was given dietary advice geared toward selectively increasing potassium intake or maintaining their customary diet. During the one-year follow-up period, antihypertensive medication dosage was continually reduced in a stepwise fashion according to a fixed protocol (which was followed unless a patient's blood pressure rose above a predetermined criterion). Potassium intake was monitored at three-month intervals by reviewing three-day dietary intake records, and by measuring 24-hour urinary potassium excretion. Potassium intake increased in the group who had been counseled to increase it; no change was seen in potassium intake in the control group. At the end of the one-year follow-up, average drug consumption (in pills per day) was significantly lower in the high-potassium group (76 percent reduction) than in the control group (40 percent reduction). Expressed another way, blood pressure could be satisfactorily controlled using 50 percent of the starting antihypertensive medication dose in 81 percent of the patients who increased potassium intake, but in only 29 percent of the patients who did not. Hence, increasing dietary potassium intake is a practical and effective means of reducing antihypertensive medication. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Dosage and administration, High-potassium diet, High potassium diet

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Effects of antihypertensive therapy on serum lipids

Article Abstract:

Most antihypertensive drugs appear to affect blood lipids in different ways, and the effects may vary according to patients' demographic characteristics. Antihypertensive drugs are those used to treat high blood pressure. Blood lipids are fats and fat-like substances, including cholesterol and triglycerides. Researchers analyzed results from 474 clinical trials involving 85 antihypertensive drugs and over 65,000 patients. Only calcium antagonists did not affect blood lipids. Diuretics produced dosage-related increases in cholesterol levels, especially among blacks. Beta-blockers were found to increase triglyceride levels. Alpha-blockers lowered total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels in younger patients. Vasodilators also had beneficial effects on cholesterol levels. Converting enzyme inhibitors were associated with lower triglyceride levels, as well as reductions in total cholesterol among diabetics.

Blood lipids

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Special diets decrease blood pressure

Article Abstract:

Salt restriction and the DASH diet can lower blood pressure in many different groups of people, including women, older people, African-Americans, and even people who don't have high blood pressure. The DASH diet consists of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, whole grains, poultry, and fish.

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