Lowering one’s blood pressure to reach ‘ normal’ values is known to have little clinical benefit according to Cochrane analysis.
 
According to Cochrane Review’s systematic analysis  of available  evidence, researchers found that the use of  anti -hypertensive drugs to bring down the  blood pressure below  140/90 mm Hg did not reduce associated  death rates or the morbidity linked to  high BP.

A number of publications suggest that “lower is better” and recommend aiming for lower BP targets. The present study does not endorse this view.

The review included seven trials involving 22,089 people. It showed that there was no difference, between the standard group (aiming for a BP of  140/90Hg) and the second group (aiming for 135/85Hg), in terms of death rates or associated morbidities like heart attacks, strokes and  heart  or kidney failure.
 
Says Jose Arguedas, lead researcher of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Costa Rica, “At present there is no evidence from randomized trials to support aiming for a blood pressure target lower than 140/90, in the general population of patients with elevated blood pressure,”
 
“Our research included patients with diabetes or chronic renal disease, and the evidence was slightly less robust for those subgroups of patients. We intend to carry out separate systematic reviews for those subgroups, especially because guidelines recommend even lower blood pressure targets for them”, states Arguedas.
 
Perhaps the trick to increase one’s life span is to keep lifestyle diseases, like diabetes, at bay. This can be realized by   following the ‘take it easy’ policy to reduce stress and by maintaining a healthy lifestyle regime. Life then becomes more pleasurable and worth every living  minute!

Dr.Reeja Tharu

Related links

1. Quiz on Hypertension

2. Blood Pressure charts

3. Stroke - First Aid and Emergency Treatment Guide

Endometriosis is a gynecological disorder that causes irregular, often painful menstrual periods and pelvic pain. It commonly occurs in women in the reproductive age group and is a cause of infertility in them.

Several treatments are available for endometriosis –the most common being laproscopic surgery and medications. However, surgery does always guarantee a complete cure; drugs, on the other hand, may have unpleasant side effects—acne, hot flushes and weight gain being a few of them.

There was news doing the rounds in the scientific circles that Chinese herbal medicine (CHM)  had an impressionable  effect on patients suffering from endometriosis and that these herbs have less side effects.

The stake was too good - which led the Cochrane review researchers to conduct systematic study on the effect of Chinese herbs on endometriosis patients.

Two trial studies were conducted —one trial proved that the symptomatic relief provided by CHM was comparable to that provided by the hormonal drug gestrinone;  the good news was that there were fewer side effects.

The other trial revealed that CHM provided greater relief than the drug danazol and therefore was much effective .It also resulted in fewer side effects.

Lead researcher Andrew Flower of the Complementary Medicine Research Unit at the University of Southampton in the UK says, “These findings suggest that Chinese herbs may be just as effective as certain conventional drug treatments for women suffering from endometriosis, but at present we don’t have enough evidence to generalize the results”.
It may be interesting to see how long the symptom relief provided by CHM lasted in comparison to the conventional drugs. One is also curious to find out if the CHM resulted in side effects that appeared with time.

The Cochrane review researchers apparently had a difficult time selecting the studies for review because many of them had poor research methodology and poor reporting quality. These are the features that future studies must look into  in order for CHM to be accepted by the scientific world and for the majority to benefit from them!
 
Dr.Reeja Tharu

Related links

1. Endometriosis

2. Alternative medicine