Five Common Misconceptions in Hypertension Treatment: Scientific Blood Pressure Management and Avoiding Common Mistakes

Rapidly lowering blood pressure to normal: Many patients hope their blood pressure will drop as quickly as possible, relentlessly pursuing a return to normal levels. This is a misconception. Generally, people over 60 years old have varying degrees of arteriosclerosis, and slightly higher blood pressure is actually beneficial for blood supply to organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys. Furthermore, lowering blood pressure too quickly or too low can cause dizziness, weakness, and even lead to serious consequences such as cerebral thrombosis.

Estimating blood pressure based on subjective feelings: The severity of subjective symptoms is not necessarily proportional to the level of blood pressure. Clinically, some patients have very high blood pressure but no symptoms; conversely, some patients have only mildly elevated blood pressure but experience significant symptoms. This is because everyone's tolerance to high blood pressure is different, and the degree of organ damage is not always perfectly parallel to the level of blood pressure. Therefore, estimating blood pressure based on subjective feelings is often incorrect and can easily delay treatment. The correct approach is to buy a blood pressure monitor and measure your blood pressure daily to understand its fluctuations.

Traditional Three-Times-a-Day Medication Method

Studies show that blood pressure in hypertensive patients fluctuates most significantly upon waking in the morning, rising by 15-32.5 mmHg within minutes. Blood pressure then naturally decreases after midday. This pattern of blood pressure fluctuation makes patients prone to cerebral hemorrhage in the morning and cerebral ischemia at night. The traditional three-times-a-day medication method does not consider this pattern of blood pressure fluctuation, focusing solely on lowering blood pressure. As a result, blood pressure control is inadequate in the morning, while blood pressure often remains low in the afternoon and at night. The current method of medication is to take the medication once daily upon waking in the morning. This effectively prevents drastic blood pressure fluctuations upon waking, maintaining a more stable blood pressure level, thus resulting in better efficacy.

Solely Relying on Antihypertensive Drugs

The causes of hypertension are complex. Therefore, in addition to medication, comprehensive treatment is necessary, including a healthy lifestyle and control of relevant risk factors. The correct approach is to choose appropriate medication, pay attention to work-rest balance, maintain a low-salt diet, and participate in appropriate recreational activities. It is especially important to avoid emotional excitement and ensure sufficient sleep. Those with smoking or alcohol habits should quit. Obese individuals should lose weight.

Can hypertension be completely cured?

Whether hypertension can be completely cured is a question many hypertension patients frequently ask. Our answer is that this is currently not possible, for various reasons.

Although many theories explain the pathogenesis of hypertension from different perspectives, such as the neurological theory, endocrine theory, renal theory, and excessive sodium intake theory, these theories all have sufficient theoretical and factual basis, but they all have certain limitations. They can only reflect certain aspects of the pathogenesis of hypertension and cannot fully explain it. Therefore, treatment often lacks addressing the underlying cause.