Speaker 1: It’s the time of week where we answer some of your common health questions. As always, joining us News Channel 5’s medical expert, Doctor David Soria, the chief of emergency medicine at Wellington Regional Medical Center. Thanks so much, nice to see you.
Dr. David Soria: You too.
Speaker 1: First off, we’re talking about ways, are there ways, to lower blood pressure without using drugs?
Dr. David Soria: Yeah, there sure are and lifestyle comes into play quite a bit when it contributes to hypertension. Really, we try to use that first, or try to recommend that long before we use any medicines. A couple things are important. One, is lose weight. Increased weight clearly increases blood pressure. Exercise regularly. Studies have shown that if you exercise about 30 minutes per day, you can decrease your blood pressure about 10 points, or 10 millimeters of mercury. So it’s very important.
Speaker 1: That’s pretty significant.
Dr. David Soria: 30 minutes a day is a lot though, so you really got to get into a good regimen. Eat right and eat healthy; veggies, fruits, whole grains, things like that. Avoid things like caffeine, things like that could increase your blood pressure. Then, also, no alcohol, no tobacco. If you eliminate all those things, I think, in combination, I think you’ll see quite a bit of-
Speaker 1: I’m snickering because all the things we know we should do, but sometimes-
Dr. David Soria: I didn’t mention chocolate though.
Speaker 1: Gosh, don’t you dare go there.
Dr. David Soria: It always seems to come into play.
Speaker 1: What about migraines? Are there anything … Is there anything we can do to prevent them?
Dr. David Soria: You know, with all the research that we’ve done on migraines, we still don’t know a lot about it, but we do know that it’s a vascular dilatation in the brain that irritates the nerves surrounding it. It causes a throbbing pain. We also know that there are certain triggers; too much caffeine can trigger a migraine, things like that; lack of sleep; lack of exercise; then there’s also certain foods that we’d want you to avoid, for example, foods that have tyramine, wines, aged cheeses, and also foods with MSG, well-known to trigger migraines, Chinese food, spicy foods, things like that avoid. Despite all of that, you’re still going to have migraines if you’re prone to them, unfortunately.
Try those techniques. If it doesn’t work then, obviously, see your doctor and medicines will have to-
Speaker 1: Well, let’s hope that does work. Alright thanks doc.
Dr. David Soria: You’re welcome.
Speaker 1: If you have a question for Doctor Soria, you can send it in by going to our website wptv.com, click on the health link, scroll down on the right. You’ll see a form, you can write your question right there. Thanks for coming in Doctor Soria.
Dr. David Soria: You’re welcome.
Speaker 1: We’ll see you next week.
