Allium sativum (Garlic): A Natural Medicament for High Blood Pressure

Introduction

The term High blood pressure is a known word to the populace of the world most especially those of the African region. It happens to be so common in this part of the world that a child of Ten (10) years of age must have heard the word over a hundred times during the course of his life; although he might not understand what it entails. Truth be told; in most cases even the “Adults” don’t really understand what it is all about. No thanks to the low media attention it gets. I mean these days it’s all about HIV/AIDS and Cancer, with very little and in some cases no attention being paid to the “Smaller issues” that go a long way to affect our general well-being.

High blood pressure is simply a condition in which the pressure resulting from the passage of blood through the walls of the artery tends to be too high. As the name implies, it is a condition in which blood pressure is high. Basically it’s a situation in which the blood flowing from the heart tends to be at war with its own carrier. Doesn’t make sense right? I mean why would the blood engage in a tug-of-war with its own carrier? This question and a lot more are answered in this article.

What really is High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure (HBP, for short) is also called hypertension. It’s often referred to as a “Silent Killer” due to the fact that it doesn’t have symptoms that are unique to it and people suffering from it probably wouldn’t know until it gets to a very late stage. Big question now is how does high blood pressure really come about?

We all agree that the heart pumps blood to different parts of the body. Now in other to do this, it needs carriers more like pipes which are the arteries. The arteries simply carry oxygenated blood (Blood containing oxygen) to various parts of the body. It is a normal phenomenon that pressure tends to build up when a fluid passes through a pipe. This is not different from the arteries which are our pipes in this case. As the blood passes through the pipes/carriers (arteries), a pressure tends to build up. This pressure is the blood pressure and it is standard. But in a situation in which this pressure tends to be too high, it becomes abnormal and results to a condition known as High blood pressure otherwise called hypertension. Normally, a blood pressure is meant to be less than 120/80 (read as “120 over 80”).

What causes high blood pressure?

Growing up as an average Nigerian child, I always felt I caused high blood pressures; because often times than none my mom would say “Chiboy stop disturbing me, you are giving me high blood pressure”. Truth be told i was very stubborn then anyway. In reality though, our lifestyle actually plays the bigger role in predisposing us to hypertension. Generally, the causes of HBP are divided into two;
• Essential High blood pressure
• Secondary High blood pressure

Causes of Essential High Blood Pressure

• Genetics: I think it is right to say we are our genes although I stand to be corrected. The primary predisposing factor to hypertension is our genetic make-up and our family background. In essence, one who comes from a family where it is predominant is likely to suffer from it.

• Age: age also plays a role in predisposing one to hypertension. It is as simple as this; the older one gets, the higher one's risk of having high blood pressure. This is simply because the work rate of organs of the body tends to deteriorate as one gets older. Although, one can ameliorate and put in check these conditions by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

• Smoking: Smoking reduces the blood’s oxygen content. in a bid to make up for this, the heart pumps faster and thus a rise in blood pressure.
Other causes include;

• High salt intake
• High fat diet
• Obesity and overweight
• Mental stress

What Causes Secondary High Blood Pressure?

• Kidney disease
• Certain medicaments; such as birth control pills, appetite suppressants and some Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)
• Hormone related diseases such as; Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism or Cushing’s disease
• Drinking a lot of alcohol
• Sleep apnea (When a person’s breathing stops during sleep).

Signs and symptoms

High blood pressure doesn’t have any precise sign(s) or symptom(s). Most times people with this condition might not even know till it gets to a very late stage. At this stage, symptoms shown include;
• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness
• Blurred or double vision
• Palpitations or forceful breathing of the heart

These symptoms are not unique to High blood pressure but certainly shouldn’t be ignored. In children, weakness or paralysis on one side of the face should also be taken into consideration.

Why use garlic to treat High Blood Pressure?

Various drugs are used in the treatment of hypertension. Ranging from ACE inhibitors to Diuretics as well as the vasodilators just to mention but a few. These drugs all have their specific mechanism(s) of action. The ACE (Angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors act by relaxing blood vessels, the diuretics act by increasing urine production in a bid to get rid of excess salt and water. The vasodilators on the other hand act by widening the blood vessels.

Truth be told these drugs are effective but then again quite expensive. Why not use a natural medicament that combines these mechanisms to act yet affordable to get? I mean Garlic is the real deal when it comes to treating hypertension. Question is what makes it so effective? The functional ingredient in Garlic is Allicin, which is an organic sulfur compound. Allicin decomposes to yield organic polysulfides when ingested. The polysulfides formed play a vital role in its anti-hypertensive ability.

Basically there are three (3) ways in which garlic acts effectively as an anti-hypertensive agent. With respect to vasodilation (widening of blood vessels), it acts by increasing Hydrogen Sulfide production. Normally Red Blood cells yield Hydrogen Sulfide when they are provided with sulfur containing products. Garlic derived polysulfides which are formed supply the RBC (red blood cells) with sulfur which is needed for the production of Hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen Sulfide in turn binds to and activates Potassium-ATP channels. This resultant binding brings about an increase in the potential difference across the vascular smooth muscle cells. This increase then brings about widening of the blood vessels and hence a reduction in blood pressure.

Summary

Herbal medicaments have proven to be the way forward when it comes to ameliorating various disease conditions; easy to afford yet very effective, subsequent installments would give further prove. Most of them on the other hand have “unpleasant” tastes and odour. Garlic for instance has a very strong and offensive odour of which personally I disliked while growing up. But then again they are very effective when it comes to treating high blood pressure. Why not go for it? I mean even the body builders would often say “No Pain No Gain” and most importantly it would do us a great deal if we actually watch what goes into our mouth. To that respect, adding extra salt to the meal after its been cooked its really not a good habit, it predisposes one to hypertension.

References

What's to know about high blood pressure?. Retrieved on May 11th, 2018.

Overview on Hypertension. Retrieved on May 11th, 2018.

Ways to use garlic to treat Hypertension. Retrieved on May 24th, 2018.

Family history and hypertension. Retrieved on May 24th, 2018.

Blood pressure during pregnancy. Retrieved on Retrieved on May 24th, 2018.

Sharifi, A.M., Darabai, R. and Akbarloo, N. (2003). Investigation of antihypertensive mechanism of garlic in 2K1 hypertensive rat. Journal of Ethnopharmacology,86 :219-24.

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