Post Date December, 02 2023
Hypertension is a very common chronic disease. In China, about 20% of adults have elevated blood pressure. Many people with ulterior motives have taken a fancy to this market, using everyone's fear of hypertension to demonize formal treatment, fooling hypertension patients into believing some untrue rumors and attempting to profit from them.
Let's take a look at the six most common scams, hoping to enhance everyone's "immunity" to various hypertension scams.
Fraud 1
Several "courses" to cure hypertension
Many undesirable businesses advertise that hypertension can be eradicated by taking certain drugs for a short period of time without recurrence.
The etiology of hypertension has not been thoroughly studied, leading to the seemingly "irresponsible" name of primary hypertension. The control of hypertension is a long-term process.
The ultimate goal of treating hypertension is not simply to lower blood pressure, but to maintain a stable and standard blood pressure, reduce damage to organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys, and improve the long-term quality of life of hypertensive patients.
From past clinical experience, some patients with slightly elevated blood pressure can control their blood pressure well by strengthening exercise and adjusting their lifestyle after diagnosis of hypertension.
However, most patients require long-term oral medication to ensure stable blood pressure. There are also ways to maintain long-term blood pressure stability through medication and lifestyle improvements, which can slowly reduce blood pressure medication. Even after stopping the medication, blood pressure remains stable and reaches the standard. After stopping the medication, it is also necessary to adhere to a healthy lifestyle.
The treatment plan for hypertension should be slowly adjusted according to each person's different circumstances.
Anyone who directly promises several "courses of treatment" to cure hypertension regardless of their illness or living conditions must be a liar.
Fraud 2
Health products regulate the body and lower blood pressure
First of all, there are clear regulations in China that health care products should not be publicized for therapeutic effects. Any category of health care products that promote "X grass, X fruit, X element..." to lower blood pressure involves illegal propaganda.
Some people will say, "But after eating XX health care products, my blood pressure is really low?"? Little does it know that the effectiveness of health products is the thing to worry about. If it doesn't work, it's just asking friends to spend some money unjustly; If it works, it really kills. Why do you say that?
Although some health products mainly focus on "natural ingredients", there are other substances that are actually used to lower blood pressure. For example, adding large doses of powerful diuretics can reduce blood pressure after taking them, with a "significant" effect. However, in the long run, using excessive doses of powerful diuretics can cause electrolyte disorders, and patients may experience hypokalemia, fatigue, and so on; Second, it may cause renal failure.
Although standardized drug treatment may also have side effects, the risks of standardized treatment are controllable. Know what ingredients of the oral drug are, how much dose it has, what main adverse reactions are, and how to prevent, monitor, and mitigate these adverse reactions.
While non-standard health products, the main concept of which is not effective for reducing blood pressure, secretly add blood pressure drugs, and patients do not know what or how many of them are, resulting in a significant increase in safety risks.
Fraud 3
High tech blood pressure reduction
Perhaps everyone has also seen the promotion of electromagnetic therapy/special cups/special sofas/special beds, etc., which can also treat hypertension.
Such things are generally liars. In the same sentence, achieving stable blood pressure is the absolute principle. For those who have not yet received formal treatment, receiving formal treatment as soon as possible to achieve stable blood pressure and maintaining it for a long time is the best strategy.
As for the promotion of high-tech, please remember that doctors must be more concerned about the treatment progress of a certain disease than you. If hypertension can be accurately prevented and cured, it is a big news sensation in the global medical and even economic circles. Everyone is bound to learn about new treatment progress from doctors.
Fraud 4
Antihypertensive drugs should not be expensive at first
Many patients think this way: Blood pressure lowering drugs should be taken cheaply at the beginning, but if you take advanced drugs at the beginning, your blood pressure can't be controlled.
Indeed, when choosing antihypertensive drugs for everyone, it is important to consider economic factors. This is not because long-term use can lead to drug resistance. It is a long-term use of antihypertensive drugs. In order to ensure long-term maintenance of treatment, it is necessary to find appropriate drugs as soon as possible, based on economic conditions and medical insurance regulations, and on the premise of achieving the therapeutic effect of the disease.
The quality of antihypertensive drugs is not differentiated by price, but what is suitable is good. Moreover, there is no "drug resistance" to hypertension. During the oral administration of antihypertensive drugs, it is found that blood pressure control is not ideal, mostly due to changes in the condition. Therefore, timely follow-up visits should be made to adjust the type and dosage of antihypertensive drugs.
Fraud 5
Western medicine harms the liver and kidney, and natural medicine is the best
The control and treatment of adverse reactions to oral antihypertensive drugs has become very mature. It can be said that hundreds of millions of people around the world are taking oral antihypertensive drugs every day, and the safety of these drugs is controllable. "If untreated or treated irregularly, the harm to the body is much greater than the risk posed by these regular drugs.".
Regarding the treatment of hypertension with traditional Chinese medicine/herbal medicine, various guidelines, including the Chinese people's own, have not been included in the recommendations for the time being. In the case of conditional access to modern medical treatment, standardized treatment with precise effects and controllable risks should still be preferred.
If it is necessary to use traditional Chinese medicine for treatment, it is necessary to closely monitor blood pressure, understand the toxic and side effects of traditional Chinese medicine, and be vigilant against traditional Chinese medicine that adds western medicine ingredients without permission, considering one's own health.
Fraud 6
Dependence on antihypertensive drugs
Many sensational rumors "demonize" antihypertensive drugs, especially emphasizing the "dependency" of antihypertensive drugs, which can never be stopped once taken.
Indeed, hypertension requires long-term control, and most patients need long-term medication to maintain blood pressure stability. However, this does not mean that antihypertensive drugs are "drugs" that cannot be stopped once taken.
Some patients with hypertension take low-dose antihypertensive drugs orally at the beginning of diagnosis, and also strictly regulate their lifestyle, such as changing from driving to walking during commuting, regularly participating in physical exercises, and actively participating in some leisure activities to relax. After the blood pressure drops to the normal range and stabilizes, slowly discontinue the medication, and the blood pressure remains stable within the normal range. As a pharmacist, I am also happy for them.
However, most patients with hypertension, once stopped taking medication, have poor blood pressure control, and even create various risks. It is indeed necessary to keep medication under control. However, this is determined by the characteristics of hypertension itself, not the issue of antihypertensive drugs. It seems that many people rely on wearing cotton clothes to keep warm in winter, and when they take off their cotton clothes, it becomes cold. Can we say that cotton clothes are dependent and cannot be taken off once they are worn?
With all this said, I hope everyone can resist the promotion of fake drugs and health products. The treatment of hypertension should achieve blood pressure standards, be stable, and persist for a long time, without delaying the standardized treatment of hypertension.
