HEALTH NEWS

A Type of Blood Pressure Medication Increases Cancer Risk

By Byron J. Richards, Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist

July 18, 2010

A Type of Blood Pressure Medication Increases Cancer Risk
Doctors continue their misguided and expanded use of blood pressure medication, thinking that if they lower BP numbers with drugs they have produced a better condition of health. A new study shows that a commonly used type of blood pressure medication1 called angiotensin-receptor blockers increases the risk for a new cancer up to 11 percent.

These drugs are widely used by millions for high blood pressure, heart failure, cardiovascular risk reduction, and diabetic kidney disease. It is a very popular notion amongst doctors to reduce the pressure in the circulatory system. However, the pressure is often elevated to enhance circulation to locations in the body that need oxygen and nutrients. When you lower pressure then you reduce tissue oxygenation and nutrition, resulting in cells prone to low-oxygen status. This increases free-radical damage and promotes cell mutation leading to cancer.

It is a goal for anyone to have good blood pressure and to improve blood pressure as it trends higher – by being healthy or taking steps to be healthier. Drugs are temporary solutions and seldom produce metabolic and cardiovascular health.

"We have found the risk of new cancers was increased with these medications by 8-11 percent," said Dr. Ilke Sipahi, associate director of heart failure and transplantation and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. "Most importantly, risk of lung cancer was increased by 25 percent. This is the first time an association between angiotensin-receptor blockers and cancer development is suggested.”

Rest assured the FDA won't be acting on this data for years and neither will doctors who routinely discard risk data to claim the benefits of any toxic drug is greater than its risks. Your best solution is to improve your health and maintain it so you don't "need" any drug for metabolism or cardiovascular health.

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