Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I’ve been plagued with high blood pressure for years, and although I seemed to improve almost to the point of being taken off medication, things took a downturn again over the winter and my medication has been increased six-fold! Thankfully, it is now coming down again, but I got this book out of the library in the hope that it would give me some insights and help me get things down to a ‘diabetic normal’. We diabetics have to aim for lower numbers than the general population, by dint of our disease, so recommended levels are 130/80 or lower for us, 140/80 for non-diabetics.
The book is not overlong – 112 pages plus appendices – so is an easy read. It assumes the worse case scenario, so covers all the bases: exercise, diet, smoking, stress, complimentary medicine, medications and the problems that can be particular to women, especially in pregnancy. As it is not written specifically for diabetics, some of the advice proffered is probably not suitable, particularly with regard to diet, but on the whole all chapters will have something to offer as it basically deals with healthy diet and lifestyle choices.
In my own case, there would seem to be little I can do to help myself, as I am not overweight, I exercise regularly, do not smoke and follow a healthy, low salt diet. As a result, what you can get out of the book will very much depend on where you are starting from and how many of the suggestions you are able to follow. As a general read it is useful, explaining the need to keep blood pressure within guideline levels, the possible problems of failing to do so, and the various treatments available to help. There does seem to be quite an emphasis on herbal remedies, vitamin supplements and even homeopathic treatments, although these are fairly balanced with more conventional approaches.
As ever, a lot of the advice is commonsense, but it can be useful to have it all gathered together in one place with specifc reference to the problems of maintaining healthy blood pressure. The book is part of the Sheldon Press series of ‘Overcoming Common Problems’. I have read a number of these now and they have all been well written and easily digestible (!)
Three stars, out of a possible five.
How to Lower Your Blood Pressure
The book is not overlong – 112 pages plus appendices – so is an easy read. It assumes the worse case scenario, so covers all the bases: exercise, diet, smoking, stress, complimentary medicine, medications and the problems that can be particular to women, especially in pregnancy. As it is not written specifically for diabetics, some of the advice proffered is probably not suitable, particularly with regard to diet, but on the whole all chapters will have something to offer as it basically deals with healthy diet and lifestyle choices.
In my own case, there would seem to be little I can do to help myself, as I am not overweight, I exercise regularly, do not smoke and follow a healthy, low salt diet. As a result, what you can get out of the book will very much depend on where you are starting from and how many of the suggestions you are able to follow. As a general read it is useful, explaining the need to keep blood pressure within guideline levels, the possible problems of failing to do so, and the various treatments available to help. There does seem to be quite an emphasis on herbal remedies, vitamin supplements and even homeopathic treatments, although these are fairly balanced with more conventional approaches.
As ever, a lot of the advice is commonsense, but it can be useful to have it all gathered together in one place with specifc reference to the problems of maintaining healthy blood pressure. The book is part of the Sheldon Press series of ‘Overcoming Common Problems’. I have read a number of these now and they have all been well written and easily digestible (!)
Three stars, out of a possible five.
How to Lower Your Blood Pressure
Last edited:
Sheena