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Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease: Pathophysiology and Treatment pp 692–707Cite as

Non-Drug Treatment of Hypertension

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Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 16))

Abstract

In the past decade there has been considerable interest in treating hypertension (HBP) with non-pharmacologic methods, both old (sodium (Na+) restriction and weight reduction) and new (behavioral therapy and exercise). Yet, in its 1980 report the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure recommended some forms of non-drug therapy for HBP in some patients with little enthusiasm [1]. They felt that obese hypertensive patients should be encouraged to lose weight; that modest Na+ restriction (85 mEq/day) was a reasonably adjunctive therapy in all patients but that behavioral methods could not yet be considered a substitute for pharmacologic treatment. No recommendations were made about exercise. The rationale for non-pharmacologic treatment of HBP (Na+ restriction, weight reduction, stress reduction, and exercise) is based on experimental and epidemiologic evidence suggesting a role for excess Na+ intake, obesity, and stress in causing HBP in man.

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  1. Henry R. Black
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hypertension and Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Unit, Department of Pathophysiology, University of Leuven, K.U. Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    A. Amery , R. Fagard , P. Lijnen  & J. Staessen , ,  & 

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© 1982 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague

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Black, H.R. (1982). Non-Drug Treatment of Hypertension. In: Amery, A., Fagard, R., Lijnen, P., Staessen, J. (eds) Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease: Pathophysiology and Treatment. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7476-0_44

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