Billions of words have been written on the subject of high blood pressure. There are millions upon millions of listings that come up on Google on this subject, and it would be unimaginable that one person could read it all and sort out what to do about it. But one might conclude from the number of words that it is a subject of great apprehension.

Blood pressure is calculated to measure the pressure of the blood against the walls of your arteries. It measures the amount of blood pumped by the heart and the amount of resistance to the flow of the blood. If you have high blood pressure, the heart is working too hard against arteries too narrow. Exactly what numbers signify high blood pressure have changed over the years, and sometimes vary depending on who is being the authority.

The nurse will check your blood pressure on every visit to a doctors office. So, although there may be no symptoms of high blood pressure, anyone who ever visits a doctor or nurse would easily be able to find out if they had that condition.

All doctors do agree that blood pressure should be brought down to a normal level, because high blood pressure can cause a lot of damage in the body. High blood pressure is known to contribute to heart attacks and strokes.

Particular habits such as smoking or conditions such as being overweight can cause high blood pressure. But often there is no obvious cause.

There are a lot of drugs on the market, specifically for the purpose of controlling blood pressure, and most doctors prescribe one or a combination of drugs for that purpose. However, all drugs come with side effects, and sometimes more drugs are prescribed to handle the side effects, and on and on. This is an undesirable situation.

Alternative medicine turns to diet and supplements to handle high blood pressure, and these things can be very effective, and have no side effects. A combination of Coenzyme Q-10, L caritine and D-Ribose have been particularly effective in lowering blood pressure. Hundreds of studies have been done showing these and other natural supplements to bring about desirable results.

Chelation therapy is another very effective way of lowering blood pressure and preventing strokes and heart attacks. It is not a new therapy, but has been around since the 1940's, originally used to cure lead poisoning. It used a strong antioxidant, usually delivered by IV, which binds to toxins in the body and thus allows them to be eliminated. In this process, plaque is removed from arteries, and blood circulation increases, lowering blood pressure. The therapy is administered by a doctor and is an excellent alternative to taking drugs for the rest of one's life.