Women taking a diuretic were 9% MORE likely to die of cardiovascular disease than with no drugs

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Saturday, August 08, 2009 11:11 am 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).

I realize this is the exact opposite of we have been told.

This is the exact opposite of what we have been led to believe.

But this is exactly what the data shows.

Women taking no blood pressure medicines 13% less likely to get coronary disease

Women taking NO drugs for blood pressure were 13% LESS likely to get CORONARY DISEASE during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic.

Or to say this the other way…

Women taking a DIURETIC were 15% MORE likely to get CORONARY DISEASE during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO drugs.

Remember, the systolic pressure of women taking a diuretic was 13 mm Hg LOWER than those taking NO drugs, and yet they were MORE likely to get coronary disease.

 

Women taking no blood pressure medicines 5% more likely to have a stroke

Women taking NO drugs for blood pressure were 5% MORE likely to have a STROKE during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic.

Or to say this the other way…

Women taking a DIURETIC were 5% LESS likely to have a STROKE during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking NO drugs.

 

Note: Consuming the amount of potassium in one banana or 8 ounces of orange juice reduces your risk of stroke by 40%

I would not worry about this. One study found that 500 mg of potassium per day reduced the risk of stroke by 40%. This is roughly the amount found in a banana or 8 oz of orange juice.

 

Women taking no blood pressure medicines 8% less likely to die of cardiovascular disease

Women taking NO drugs for blood pressure were 8% LESS likely to DIE of Cardiovascular Disease during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking a diuretic.

Or to say this the other way…

Women taking a DIURETIC were 9% MORE likely to DIE of Cardiovascular Disease during the 5.9 year follow-up than women taking no drugs.

It is very possible that this is due to random chance, but at the very least this data is telling us that giving these women a DIURETIC did NOT reduce the risk of DYING from Cardiovascular Disease but instead may have INCREASED the risk of DYING from Cardiovascular Disease.

 

My guess is diuretics REDUCE the risk of death in women with SEVERE hypertension, but INCREASE the risk of death in women with MODERATE hypertension

My guess is that in women with SEVERELY Elevated Blood Pressure that is, those whose blood pressure is in excess of roughly “100 plus your age”, as the old Rule of Thumb said my guess is that in older women with SEVERELY elevated blood pressure, DIURETICS probably REDUCE the risk of DYING but in older women with MODERATELY elevated blood pressure that is those whose blood pressure is LESS than “100 plus your age”, that DIURETICS probably INCREASE the risk of DYING.

For more specific cutoffs for Severe Hypertension, see the paper by Sid Port published in the Lancet in 2000.

I will post videos showing these cutoffs were risk begins.

My guess is that for the next 10 or 20 years, most of the medical and research community will vehemently disagree with this because the current beliefs about hypertension seem to be a “Sacred Cow” that everybody assumes is true and the drug companies are making billions having convinced tens of millions of people that they had better take their drugs or else they are going to die because since 1968—which is 41 years ago at this point—people have been told “the lower your blood pressure, the lower your risk of death”.

But this is NOT true.

 

In 1980, Keys showed the idea that “the lower your blood pressure, the lower your risk of death” was FALSE

Way back in 1980, a man by the name of Keys showed this was NOT.

Keys found there was a wide range of “normal” blood pressures where people were at NO GREATER RISK OF DEATH.

And yet, the myth continued.

 

In 2000, Port proved the idea that “the lower your blood pressure, the lower your risk of death” was FALSE

Twenty years later, in 2000, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) statistician Sid Port, PhD also showed that this is NOT true.

Sid Port found that the 1968 Framingham study was wrong.

Port found that they used the WRONG statistical model which gave them the WRONG answer.

One way to think of it is as if you were to push the wrong buttons on a calculator.

If you borrowed $500 from a friend, and then later borrowed another $200 but when your friend calculated how much you owed him, he pushed the wrong buttons on the calculator, and instead of entering “500 + 200” he entered “500 X 200” he would conclude that you owed him $100,000! (500 X 200 = 100,000) Simply because he pushed the wrong buttons on the calculator.

So if you use the WRONG statistical model, which they have done since 1968, you get the WRONG answer!

And yet, here we are 29 years after Keys showed the conclusions of the Framingham study were WRONG, and 9 years after Sid Port showed they were WRONG and yet, nothing has been done to correct this!

Why not?

 

The myth of “the lower your blood pressure, the lower your risk of death” has been perpetuated so the drug companies can sell more drugs

Because the drug companies can sell more drugs by perpetuating the myth that “the lower your blood pressure, the lower your risk of death”.

Because by using the WRONG statistical model, this allows them to convince tens of millions of people that they NEED their drugs or else they will die.

The average systolic pressure of the wome taking no blood pressure medicines was 149 mm Hg versus 136 mm Hg for those taking a Diuretic .

But wait.There’s more.

 

The current study did NOT look at the TOTAL risk of death. Had they done so, I believe they would have found even MORE deaths in those given diuretics

Notice that they only gave data for the risk of dying from Cardiovascular Disease.

They did NOT look at how these drugs affected the TOTAL RISK OF DEATH.

If you only look at cardiovascular deaths, then you miss deaths due to CANCER.

If you only look at cardiovascular deaths, then you miss deaths due to SUICIDE.

If you only look at cardiovascular deaths, then you miss deaths due to Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

If you only look at cardiovascular deaths, then you miss deaths due to Other causes that may be drug-related.

For example…

 

The research shows diuretics increase the risk of cancer, diabetes and suicide

The research shows that Diuretics increase the risk of CANCER.

The research shows that Diuretics increase the risk of DIABETES.

The research shows that Diuretics increase the risk of SUICIDE.

 

Beta blockers increase the risk of cancer, weight gain, diabetes, depression and suicide

While I’m on the topic of talking about serious problems associated with blood pressure medicines let me tell you about problems associated with other blood pressure medicines.

The research shows that Beta Blockers increase the risk of CANCER.

The research shows that Beta Blockers increase the risk of WEIGHT GAIN.

The research shows that Beta Blockers increase the risk of DIABETES.

The research shows that Beta Blockers increase the risk of DEPRESSION.

The research shows that Beta Blockers increase the risk of SUICIDE.

 

Calcium Channel Blockers increase the risk of cancer, depression, suicide, gastrointestinal bleeding and heart attack

The research shows that Calcium Channel Blockers increase the risk of CANCER.

The research shows that Calcium Channel Blockers increase the risk of DEPRESSION.

The research shows that Calcium Channel Blockers increase the risk of SUICIDE (4.5-fold according a Swiss study.)

The research shows that Calcium Channel Blockers increase the risk of GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING.

The research shows that Calcium Channel Blockers increase the risk of HEART ATTACK.

 

ACE Inhibitors increase the risk of cancer and suicide

The research shows that ACE Inhibitors increase the risk of CANCER.

The research shows that ACE Inhibitors increase the risk of SUICIDE.

 

This is only a partial list of problems associated with blood pressure medicines

This is only a partial list based on a quick review of the literature.

So by only looking at the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, you are NOT looking at the whole picture.

You will miss all these other problems.

 

There are MANY other lessons to be learned from this study. I will post other video highlights.

I have a lot more videos to post from this eye-opening study.

 

Potassium bicarbonate worked wonderfully for me, lowering my blood pressure from roughly 140/80 to 123/73

Are there any alternatives to blood pressure medicines?

Yes.

I believe that potassium bicarbonate is vastly superior to ALL of the drugs used for blood pressure.

I’ve been taking 1000 mg of potassium twice a day (2000 mg per day) in the form of potassium bicarbonate since 2000.

My blood pressure dropped from roughly 140/80 mm Hg to 124/73 mm Hg (taken recently).

WARNING: Only take potassium under a doctor’s supervision. Too much potassium can kill you.

For more information on the numerous benefits of potassium bicarbonate, see a review paper by Frassetto from 2001.

A study which gave potassium chloride, the more commonly recommended form, to older people with hypertension found that it worked wonderfully. Potassium chloride reduced blood pressure in older people from 160/89 to 145/81 mm Hg.

Potassium chloride reduced blood pressure in older people from 160/89 to 145/81 mm Hg. 1750-2300 mg of potassium per day lowered systolic pressure by 15 point and diastolic pressure by 8 points.

Why not try potassium (bicarbonate) first?

 

PDF version of this presentation can be downloaded from here

A PDF version of this presentation can be downloaded by clicking here or by clicking on the image below.

REFERENCE

Wassertheil-Smoller S, Psaty B, Greenland P, Oberman A, Kotchen T, Mouton C, Black H, Aragaki A, Trevisan M. Association between cardiovascular outcomes and antihypertensive drug treatment in older women. JAMA. 2004 Dec 15, 292(23):2849-59.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, PhD
Professor and Division Head, Department of Epidemiology & Population Health
Principal Investigator, Women’s Health Initiative
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health
1300 Morris Park Avenue
Belfer Building, Room 1312
Bronx, NY 10461
718-430-2358 phone
718-430-2359 phone
718-430-3076 fax
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

http://www.aecom.yu.edu/home/faculty/profile.asp?id=5563

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Blood Pressure

• Blood Pressure Drugs

• Blood Pressure Drugs INCREASED Death in Older women

• Diuretics

• YouTube videos