Older women with hypertension who were taking blood pressure drugs were 31% were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease alone than women with hypertension not taking blood pressure drugs even though their average systolic pressure was 12 points lower (137 vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

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95% of cases of high blood pressure are called “Essential Hypertension”, which, by definition, is high blood pressure of “unknown cause”.

What better excuse to give you a drug or two or three or four than to say, “We have no idea what is causing your high blood pressure!”

I believe that Essential Hypertension is complete and total NONSENSE!

I believe that 99.9% of cases of Essential Hypertension are caused by a potassium deficiency.

Here is how I came to realize this.

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There were 10% MORE deaths in people with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who were taking blood pressure drugs during a median follow-up of 5.8 years (4.49% died vs 4.08%) than people of the same age and same blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

This study suggests to me that blood pressure drugs INCREASE the risk of death in people with mild hypertension.

Data from a 2004 study of older women showed the same thing, that older women with hypertension, and my guess is that most of them had mild hypertension, were MORE likely to die from cardiovascular disease alone in 7 of 8 drug groups (data was only given for death from cardiovascular disease, but not given for total mortality) than women with hypertension who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs.

I believe that this is because mild hypertension is NOT a disease and does NOT increase your risk of death, so giving drugs to lower blood pressure cannot possibly lower your risk of death, and instead can only INCREASE your risk of death.

In 2000, Sidney Port, PhD, a statistician from UCLA, found that our beliefs about blood pressure, the idea that there is a linear relationship between blood pressure and the risk of death, that every little increase in blood pressure increases the risk of death, is WRONG.

Sid Port found that with blood pressure, there is a threshold effect, and only above a certain threshold, which depends on your age and your gender, does the risk of death increase.

Sid Port found that below this threshold, there is NO increased risk of death (except when blood pressure is too low).

Sid Port found that the threshold is very roughly similar to the old rule-of-thumb, that systolic pressure should not exceed 100 plus your age.

So if you are 50 it should not exceed 150.

If you are 60, it should not exceed 160.

If you are 70, it should not exceed 170.

(Sid Port’s calculations are somewhat different than this, but it is close enough, and this is the easiest way to remember it.)

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People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 9% MORE likely to develop cardiovascular disease during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

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People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 34% MORE likely to develop congestive heart failure during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

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People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 37% MORE likely to develop acute kidney injury during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

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People with with mild hypertension (140-159 / 90-99 mm Hg) who had no cardiovascular disease and no cardiovascular disease risk factors who were treated with blood pressure drugs were 72% MORE likely to develop electrolyte abnormalities during a median follow-up of 5.8 years than people of the same age and blood pressure who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs according to a 2018 study.

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Beta blockers reduce diet-induced thermogenesis by 50% according to a study from Australia.

Beta blockers are drugs are given for:

• abnormal heart rhythms
• High blood pressure
• Heart failure
• Angina (heart pain)
• Tremor
• Prevention of migraines
• given after a heart attack
• hyperthyroidism
• akathisia (restlessness or inability to sit still)
• panic disorder
• anxiety
• aggressive behavior

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Beta blockers reduce fat oxidation by 32% according to a study from Australia.

Beta blockers are drugs are given for:

• abnormal heart rhythms
• High blood pressure
• Heart failure
• Angina (heart pain)
• Tremor
• Prevention of migraines
• given after a heart attack
• hyperthyroidism
• akathisia (restlessness or inability to sit still)
• panic disorder
• anxiety
• aggressive behavior

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Beta blockers reduce weekly habitual activity by 34%, as measured by the number of steps taken in a week by a pedometer, according to a study from Australia.

The average number of steps taken in a week was 38,816 steps in the Beta-blocker group versus 58,944 steps in the control group.

(The paper rounds off the calculation to approximately 30%, however, the calculation shows the difference is 34%.)

Beta blockers are drugs are given for:

• abnormal heart rhythms
• High blood pressure
• Heart failure
• Angina (heart pain)
• Tremor
• Prevention of migraines
• given after a heart attack
• hyperthyroidism
• akathisia (restlessness or inability to sit still)
• panic disorder
• anxiety
• aggressive behavior

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Two hundred (200) prescription drugs used in the U.S. list depression or suicidal symptoms as possible adverse effects according to a new paper from researchers at Columbia University in New York, NY, USA.

The percentage of people reporting depression using drugs with depression as a possible side effect were:

• 4.7% of people taking no (0) risky drugs
• 6.9% of people taking one (1) risky drug
• 9.5% of people taking two (2) risky drugs
• 15.3% of people taking three (3) risky drugs

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“Aiming for blood pressure targets lower than 140/90 mmHg is not beneficial,” concludes a 2009 review by the Cochrane Collaboration.

“Using more drugs in the lower target groups did achieve modestly lower blood pressures, however, this strategy did not prolong survival or reduce stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure.”

“More trials are needed, but at present there is no evidence to support aiming for a blood pressure target lower than 140/90 mmHg in any hypertensive patient.”

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People given beta blockers were:

• 10 to 24 times more like to dropout of studies due to fatigue
• 5 times more like to dropout of studies due to sexual dysfunction.

Beta blockers only prevent:

• one stroke per year out of every 1400 patients given these drugs.
• one heart attack per year out of every 1400 patients given these drugs.
• one death per year out of every 2500 patients given these drugs.

This was noted in a Letter to the Editor in JAMA by cardiologist, Franz Messerli, MD who has written several papers about the ineffectiveness of beta blockers.

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Thirty (30) grams of milled flaxseed per day, the amount found in 3 Tablespoons of flaxseed, lowered systolic blood pressure by 15 mmHg, from an average of 158 mmHg to 143 mmHg, and lowered diastolic blood pressure by 7 mmHg, from an average of 82 mmHg to 75 mmHg, compared to placebo over six (6) months according to a recent study.

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I have only just recovered from the idea that everyone in the whole world over the age of fifty-five should spend the rest of their lives on six different medications, all stuck together in one great big pill. You may have seen the non-story about the non-existent polypill peddled in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). I was stimulated to look again at the concept of risk.

(This article was written by Malcolm Kendrick, MD, author of the wonderful, eye-opening, paradigm-shifting book The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It .)
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I have been aware of the ASCOT study [Anglo Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial] for some time. In fact, it seems to have been spewing out results for the past 500 years or so. Maybe not quite that long but, boy, it sometimes seems like it.

(This article was written by Malcolm Kendrick, MD, author of the wonderful, eye-opening, paradigm-shifting book The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It .) Read the entire article | Email this article

"[H]igh blood glucose in diabetes is NOT the cause of the pathology," wrote Richard Moore, MD, PhD, professor and research scientist, and author of the book "The High Blood Pressure Solution".

In other words, health problems associated with diabetes are NOT caused by high blood sugar. Read the entire article | Email this article

“[T]hiazide diuretics lower blood pressure because they get sodium out of the body (through the kidneys)," notes wrote Richard Moore, MD, PhD, professor and research scientist, and author of the book "The High Blood Pressure Solution". Read the entire article | Email this article

"[A blood pressure study called the ALLHAT study found that three newer blood pressure drugs] had far worse health outcomes than the original, cheap thiazide diuretics," wrote Richard Moore, MD, PhD, professor and research scientist, and author of the book "The High Blood Pressure Solution".

"As one author of the paper wrote, 'We cant say whether the diuretics were better than -- or not as bad as -- the other groups of drugs."

"Since it is well established that thiazide diuretics often cause diabetes, it well may be the later." Read the entire article | Email this article

“In my book, 'The High Blood Pressure Solution', you will find that [there] is no evidence that antihypertensive drugs save lives,” wrote Richard Moore, MD, PhD, professor and research scientist,

"[In fact,] the very best study ever done of drug treatment of 17,000 hypertensives over a five year period found 'no overall reduction in death rate' in those treated with drugs." Read the entire article | Email this article

In 1986, professor and research scientist, Richard Moore, MD, PhD, showed in his book "The K Factor: Reversing and Preventing High Blood Pressure Without Drugs", that 95% of the cases of hypertension are due to a low ratio of potassium to sodium in the American diet.

“We did not emphasize it, but since you can't repair a dietary deficiency with a synthetic chemical [a drug] this clearly indicated that drugs are not the answer for hypertension," Dr. Moore noted.

Dr. Moore also notes that back in the 1980's, the largest blood pressure drug study to-date at that time, which included "17,000 people over a 5-year period, demonstrated that lowering blood pressure with drugs had zero effect on over-all mortality!" Read the entire article | Email this article

Women taking a diuretic plus a beta blocker were 21% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 15 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (134 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure drugs were 18% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic plus a beta blocker.

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Women taking a diuretic plus an ACE inhibitor were 12% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 16 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (133 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure drugs were 11% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic plus an ACE inhibitor.

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Women taking a diuretic plus a calcium channel blocker were 2.4 times MORE likely (136% more likely) to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 11 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (138 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure medicines were 58% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic plus a calcium channel blocker.

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Women taking a calcium channel blocker were 74% MORE likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure drugs even though the average systolic pressure was 10 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (139 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure medicines were 43% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a calcium channel blocker.

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Women taking an ACE Inhibitor were 4% MORE likely to die of cardiovascular disease during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 12 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (137 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

To say this the other way, women taking NO blood pressure medicines were 4% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking an ACE Inhibitor. Read the entire article | Email this article

Women, 50- to 79-years-old with high blood pressure and no history of cardiovascular disease, who were taking a diuretic to lower their blood pressure were 9% MORE likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women of the same age who also had hypertension but were taking NO blood pressure medicines even though the average systolic pressure was 13 points LOWER in the drug group than the NO drug group (136 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg) according to a 2004 study.

Let me say this the other way.

Older women with hypertension who were NOT taking blood pressure drugs were 8% LESS likely to die of cardiovascular disease during a 5.9 year follow-up than women of the same age who were taking a diuretic even though the average systolic pressure of the women taking NO blood pressure medicines was 13 points HIGHER than those taking a diuretic (149 mm Hg vs 136 mm Hg).

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Women taking a beta blocker were 15% less likely to die of cardiovascular disease during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO blood pressure medicines according to a 2004 study.

The average systolic pressure was 11 points LOWER in the drug group than the no drug group (136 mm Hg vs 149 mm Hg).

To say this the other way, women taking women taking NO blood pressure medicines were 17% MORE likely to die of cardiovascular disease during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a beta blocker.

(YouTube videos are limited to 10 minutes, so I had to split the video into 2 parts.) Read the entire article | Email this article

The belief that "the higher your blood pressure, the higher your risk of death, and the lower your blood pressure, the lower the risk of death" is WRONG.

This according to a brilliant paper from UCLA statistician, Sid Port, PhD. Read the entire article | Email this article

The belief that "the higher your blood pressure, the higher your risk of death, and the lower your blood pressure, the lower the risk of death" is WRONG.

This according to a brilliant paper from UCLA statistician, Sid Port, PhD. Read the entire article | Email this article

The belief that "the higher your blood pressure, the higher your risk of death, and the lower your blood pressure, the lower the risk of death" is WRONG.

This according to a brilliant paper from UCLA statistician, Sid Port, PhD. Read the entire article | Email this article

The belief that "the higher your blood pressure, the higher your risk of death, and the lower your blood pressure, the lower the risk of death" is WRONG.

This according to a brilliant paper from UCLA statistician, Sid Port, PhD. Read the entire article | Email this article

[A statement made in a editorial about the blood pressure drug Cozaar (losartan)] is "disturbing." …

"The authors seemingly want us to believe… [this] deceptive statement."

-- Franz Messerli, MD, European Heart Journal, 2003. Read the entire article | Email this article

The blood pressure medicine “... Cozaar [losartan]... [reduced strokes by 40%, but] did NOT reduce [heart attacks]....”


Between Cozaar and the beta blocker atenolol, Cozaar, some might argue, is only the lesser of two evils.

— Franz Messerli, MD, European Heart Journal, 2003. Read the entire article | Email this article

“... beta blocker therapy has been shown to cause... weight gain... and to significantly increase the risk of developing diabetes.”

— Franz Messerli, MD, European Heart Journal, 2003. Read the entire article | Email this article

“... [In] patients over the age of 60, beta blockers did NOT reduce [heart attacks], cardiovascular mortality or [the total risk of death].”
— Franz Messerli, MD, European Heart Journal, 2003. Read the entire article | Email this article

... [T]he risk of strokes was between two and four times higher in middle-aged patients on [the beta blocker] atenolol compared to [a diuretic].

— Franz Messerli, MD, European Heart Journal, 2003. Read the entire article | Email this article

Blood pressure medicine called beta blockers increase the risk of suicide by 60 percent as noted in a Letter to the Editor published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read the entire article | Email this article