Garlic, Remedy For Hypertension.

Mr. Ade Tunde has been plagued with hypertension. Several visits to the hospital have not yielded a desirable result, according to him, since all the doctors could do was manage his hypertension. After narrating his experience to his next-door-neighbour, he was given some garlic to chew, with the assurance that they would help cure his disease. Mr. Tunde later said that there was a marked improvement in his health, vowing that his doctors could testify to the fact. Dr Olutayo Aderounmu, a practitioner with Life Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, said despite the health benefits of garlic, it could only lower the risk of hypertension in people and not cure it, saying that hypertension in itself, could not be cured, but managed. Garlic's abilities to curb many health ailments and to naturally lower blood pressure, including pulmonary hypertension, have been documented for over 5,000 years; thus making it one of the most effective herbs to lower blood pressure and increase your overall heart health, Jon Butts wrote in his article on Garlic and Hypertension. He added that “even without first-hand scientific proof, people throughout the ages have been benefiting from these marvelous cloves of the earth.” Folks in some rural parts of Nigeria such as Igangan, Ibarapa, Oyo State; Ibeto, Magama Local Government of Niger State, and some other eastern parts, have over the years, employed the healing particles in garlic to fight infections and, as a preservative. In the ancient Egypt, garlic is used to increase a soldier’s strength in battle. They also have been known to bury their royalty with it. References to garlic’s healing property have also been found in Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, and Indian medical texts. As such, “it should be no surprise that the power of garlic has finally been proven to lower high blood pressure and the propensity for other cardiovascular diseases,” Butts concluded. A study has found that garlic may be useful in treating high blood pressure. In the study conducted by Australian doctors, 50 patients were enrolled in a trial to see if garlic supplements could help those whose blood pressure was high, despite medication. The result of the study, reported in the Scientific Journal Maturitas, suggested that respondents who were given four capsules of garlic extract a day had lower blood pressure than those on placebo. In a latest study conducted by researchers from the University of Adelaide, Australia, garlic was found to be good for the heart. The head of the research, Karin Ried, while reporting on the result of the study, said, "Garlic supplements have been associated with a blood pressure lowering effect of clinical significance in patients with untreated hypertension. "Our trial, however, is the first to assess the effect, tolerability and acceptability of aged garlic extract as an additional treatment to existing antihypertensive medication in patients with treated, but uncontrolled, hypertension." In the study, the researchers looked at the effects of four capsules a day of a supplement known as aged garlic for 12 weeks. Their findings indicated systolic blood pressure was around 10mmHg lower in the group given garlic compared with those given a placebo. Garlic supplements have previously been shown to lower cholesterol and reduce high blood pressure in those with untreated hypertension. A senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, Ms Ellen Mason, while speaking on the effects of garlic on hypertension patients, said the use of garlic for medicinal purposes dates back to thousands of years. According to her, it is essential that scientific research proves that garlic can help conditions such as raised blood pressure. "This study demonstrated a slight blood pressure reduction after using aged garlic supplements but it's not significant enough or in a large enough group of people to currently recommend it instead of medication. "It's a concern that so many people in the United Kingdom have poorly controlled blood pressure, with an increased risk of stroke and heart disease as a consequence. So enjoy garlic as part of your diet but don't stop taking your blood pressure medication." Additionally, a study conducted at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), attributed garlic's ability to lower high blood pressure to hydrogen sulfide content. In a report by Foushee DD, Ruffin J and Banerjee U, Garlic As a Natural Agent for the Treatment of Hypertension: A Preliminary Report, the major objective of the study was to re-evaluate the effects of garlic on blood pressure with respect to its ability to provoke a decrease in blood pressure and to determine the length of time that this decrease would require. They wrote that some hypertensive rats were given three doses of garlic extract of 0.1 ml/kg, 0.25 ml/kg, and 0.5 ml/kg by oral injection. The blood pressures of these ether-anaesthetised rats were measured immediately before the extract was given, and then 0.5, 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours after the extract were given. A blood pressure measurement was also taken at 48 hours after extract administration for the 0.5 ml/ kg dose. Consequently, “there was a marked decrease in the systolic blood pressure of all of the rats after three doses and the decrease occurred within 30 min in each case. “Even though the average decreases for the 0.1 ml/kg and the 0.25 ml/kg doses were calculated as 51,25 mm Hg and 56.25 mm Hg, respectively, these doses were not sufficient to sustain the blood pressure in a normal range for more than one or two hours The 0.5 ml/kg dose, showing an average decrease of 65.7 mm Hg, was sufficient to provoke a decrease to a normal level and to sustain this decrease for up to 24 hours. “The results indicate that garlic is effective as a natural agent for the treatment of hypertension.” Professor Helen Ekaete, a researcher, explained that allicin, a compound found in garlic is beneficial to the arterial health. She said that allicin (a polysulfide) is the primary biological compound found in garlic and is widely accepted as the standard substance responsible for garlic's ability to lower high blood pressure and curb subsequent cardiovascular problems. “In short,” Butts wrote, “allin is the garlic plant's primary immune system; thus keeping it safe from the myriad of soil microbes eager to feast on the tasty bulbs. “Although toxic in large amounts, hydrogen sulphide is naturally produced by the body to serve a very beneficial purpose: to control blood pressure naturally. In a sort of paradoxical way, the same gas that offers the pungent smell of rotting eggs and odiferous sewers is now attributed to reducing hypertension. This is amazing science. “Once released, the hydrogen sulphide targets unique cell-membrane channels to begin smooth muscle relaxation up to 72 per cent in laboratory animals. Such results, therefore, classify hydrogen sulphide as a local signaling gas: e g. a gas acting as a catalyst within a cell.” Professor Ekaete, who warned that even though there were documented cardiovascular benefits of allicin and hydrogen sulphide, said it was important to understand the limits to their benefits, said to enjoy allicin in garlic, it should be crushed, not sliced, among others. Please indicate in your comments for the products and other information.