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New US Diet Guidelines: What Not to Eat
Instead of just giving Americans a list of healthy food choices, the federal government takes a stab at showing us what not to eat. Get the facts here.
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unstable blood pressure
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Anon_233611 posted:
Dear Dr. Beckerman,

My family leave far from here and I only have contact with them over the internet and phone. My dad is 86 years old and is on blood pressure medication (Lozar, 25mg, 2/day, 1 morning, ½ night) as well as eye pressure and aspirin (80mg, 2/week). His blood pressure is not stable, always goes up and down from 160/80 to 80/50 and as the result of that he sleeps a lot and does not have energy. What can we do to stable that? I know having garlic in food stable his pressure and for whole day it was 130/80. Is he in low in potassium?[br>


Thank you in advance.
2 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:unstable blood pressureDear Dr. Beckerman,<br /><br />My family leave far from here and I only have contact with them over the internet and phone. My dad is 86 years old and is on blood pressure medication (Lozar, 25mg, 2/day, 1 morning, ½ night) as well as eye pressure and aspirin (80mg, 2/week). His blood pressure is not stable, always goes up and down from 160/80 to 80/50 and as the result of that he sleeps a lot and does not have energy. What can we do to stable that? I know having garlic in food stable his pressure and for whole day it was 130/80. Is he in low in potassium?[br&gt;<br /><br /><br />Thank you in advance.
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James Beckerman, MD, FACC responded:
It can be so hard to try to be an advocate for your family's health when you live so far away. I generally would suggest for situations like this that you encourage your dad to visit with his doctor to go over his medications. It's possible that some adjustment of his morning and/or evening dosages could help - and it some cases switching to a new medication could be considered. I think you might find it more challenging to try to manage this type of thing with just dietary changes alone.
Report This| Share this:unstable blood pressureIt can be so hard to try to be an advocate for your family's health when you live so far away. I generally would suggest for situations like this that you encourage your dad to visit with his doctor to go over his medications. It's possible that some adjustment of his morning and/or evening dosages could help - and it some cases switching to a new medication could be considered. I think you might find it more challenging to try to manage this type of thing with just dietary changes alone.
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Jasmini replied to James Beckerman, MD, FACC's response:
Thank you Dr. Beckerman. I had the same idea but thought it won't hurt to check with speciliast.

Thanks again,

Akram
Report This| Share this:unstable blood pressureThank you Dr. Beckerman. I had the same idea but thought it won't hurt to check with speciliast.<br /> <br />Thanks again,<br /> <br />Akram
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