High Blood Pressure

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is among the top reasons people go to the doctor. Overweight adults are two to three times more likely to be hypertensive. Fortunately, the condition is as sensitive to weight loss as it is to weight gain. A ten-pound loss tends to lower blood pressure by about four points, that's significant. Several studies offer evidence that even moderate amounts of weight loss can prevent hypertension, and can help hypertensive patients lower their risk for stroke. One group of researchers, working with 975 hypertensive patients, found that 37 percent of the subjects who lost an average of ten to 12 pounds were able to safely go off their blood-pressure medication. In this unpublished study and in other trials, weight loss proved to be more effective short-term treatment than stress management or reduction of salt intake