Why Seniors Should Consider Acupuncture to Treat Hypertension

Acupuncture is an effective method of treatment for seniors struggling with hypertension. The reasons are manifold. Doctors want to reduce medical waste and find more effective ways to actually treat disease, instead of masking symptoms. More medical professsionals and scientists are also realizing that holistic treatments offer effective, non-intrusive health solutions for many conditions. In addition, elderly people have delicate body systems. Many factors like diet, activity and emotional balance affect their blood pressure rate. Modern medicine also comes with a myriad of side effects.  

Reducing Medical Waste
There’s no doubt the healthcare crisis in America is largely due to spending waste. Insurance carriers and patients spend money on unnecessary expenses and procedures. Yet the healthcare they receive does little to heal their conditions. To reduce waste, physicians are starting to call for better quality healthcare; and cutting out unnecessary pre-op tests, excessive care visits, and over-medication. Scientific research is also starting to show that when you add round-the-clock safety monitoring and body-balancing holistic treatments to a patients' healthcare regimen; overall medical care begins to produce more measurable results.

Ups and Downs
Everyone’s blood pressure rate fluctuates throughout the day. Seniors are no exception. During the day your bp is higher than when it’s resting at night. It rises after a big meal or when you’re experiencing stress.
Some seniors are at significant risk for developing depression and other emotional conditions because of the drastic changes they experience as they enter their senior years. Many seniors also suffer from food insecurity because their appetites change due to stress and emotional trauma, poor cognition and simply lack of hunger. In addition to causing hypertension, malnutrition can contribute to health conditions like heart disease, gum disease, asthma, psoriasis and lifestyle limitations.
The only way to get an accurate reading at a doctor’s office is for patients to rest for 10 minutes before the doctor takes the reading. Many doctors then take a second standing reading as well. Sometimes doctors ask patients to take readings throughout over a period of 24 hours if they suspect issues like:

• “white coat hypertension,” (when bp rises because the patient is at a doctor’s office);
• “masked hypertension,” (when bp rises when the patient is comfortable at home), or
• non-dipping, (a condition where bp is always the same indicating the patient is at risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke).

What Makes Acupuncture Effective?
Because blood pressure is something that can fluctuate so much, medical professionals are finding that prescribing strong medicine isn’t an ideal solution. In addition, doctors readily admit that most of the popular medicines on the market have undesirable side effects.

Just like blood flows throughout the body, energy flows as well throughout body channels called meridians. Acupuncture stimulates these meridians. Each meridian communicates with the brain and corresponds with a body system governing an important function like pain perception, blood pressure, the cardiovascular system and adrenaline response. Strong scientific research backs the statement that acupuncture is an effective treatment for hypertension and many other conditions. Doctors have even performed surgery with no pain medication other than acupuncture. 

​By freelance contributor Sally Phillips

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Hermes Rivera