The High Blood Pressure Solution: A Scientifically Proven Program for Preventing Strokes and Heart Disease (Paperback)

~ Richard D. Moore M.D. Ph.D. (Author), Ph.D., Richard, D. Moore M.D. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A fantastic treatment presented in a simple, practical, logical order for the patient and physician as well. -- Armand E. Brodeur, M.D., M.R.D., Professor, St. Louis University School of Medicine

Should be required reading for everyone, especially those who have a familial history of high blood pressure. -- John J. Duncan, M.D., Institute for Aerobics Research, Dallas, Texas

Review

"A fantastic treatment presented in a simple, practical, logical order for the patient and physician as well. Here is a book that needed to be written."
(Armand E. Brodeur, M.D., M.R.D., Professor, St. Louis University School of Medicine )

"Should be required reading for everyone, especially those who have a familial history of high blood pressure, or those who have already been diagnosed as having high blood pressure."
(John J. Duncan, M.D., Institute for Aerobics Research, Dallas, Texas )

"A fantastic treatment presented in a simple, practical, logical order for the patient and physician as well. One of my colleagues glanced through the book as it was sitting on my desk and said 'Hey, this is a life saver!' Here is a book that needed to be written."
(Armand E. Brodeur, M.D., M.R.D., Professor, St. Louis University School of Medicine )

"This is the finest blend of science and healing I've seen in a very long time. . . . this is the medicine of the future!"
(Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Reinventing Medicine )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Healing Arts Press; 2nd edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892819758
• ISBN-13: 978-0892819751
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,999 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #5 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Disorders & Diseases > High Blood Pressure
  #5 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Disorders & Diseases > Strokes
  #6 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Diets & Weight Loss > Special Conditions > Low Salt

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Basic Sensible Advice, November 28, 2003

By A Customer

This whole book can be summarized as: "Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables; Stay away from processed foods; exercise and lose weight" But isn't this what your mom and grandmother has been telling you? Isn't this what folk wisdom from many cultures have been saying?

The book backs up the above admonishment with lots of scientific background. The book references many articles in medical journals. I am not qualified to judge the quality of all this information. But alot of the data in the book seems consistent and makes sense. I do have one question about all the information. The book highlights two key factors contributing to high blood pressure, low potassium/sodium ratio in body fluids,
and insulin resistance. The books says there is some a relationship between the two because the potassium/sodium pump has an effect on glucose transport through cell membranes. Does a high K-factor diet lower insulin resistance? The book alludes to this but doesn't come right out and say it.

No matter what, even if you have doubts about the science....the advice in this book seem like very healthy advice. Basically dieticians have been giving the same advice for decades. So you can't lose by following it.

I am borderline high blood pressure (130-140/80-90). Since following this advice for about two months, my blood pressure has dropped to about (110-125/70-80). But by far for me,
exercise has the largest effect. After a good 6 mile run, blood pressure will stay at 110/70 for hours! and below 120/80 for the rest of the day.

If you start eating a high K-factor diet and exercising, be patient. It takes a few weeks for the effects to kick in.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed everything!, February 1, 2005

By	Alexander Grima (Fort Smith, Arkansas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was 36 when I was diagnosed with hypertension and for the past 3.5 years I have struggled to keep my blood pressure under control. I've taken several different medications, many in combination but nothing really seemed to drop my readings below 140/95. A couple of months ago my doctor suggested Lotrel so once again I made a trip to the pharmacy and started taking the new drug---no change. Frustrated, I started a search for alternative medicines/etc. and in my research I came across this book and the K-factor diet. I followed the advice to the letter and within 1 week my readings started to plummet. 3 weeks in, my readings are anywhere from 111/69 to 127/74 and mostly on the lower end. I'll be honest, I did not read the book cover to cover, some of the really detailed sections were a little bit much for me. But I read enough to understand the concepts and apply them to my lifestyle. I now have an appointment with my doctor to start reducing my Lotrel and see if I can get off it altogether. He believes in medications so it will be interesting to see his reaction to there changes. If you are hypertensive, do yourself a favor, buy, beg-for, borrow or steal a copy of this book and follow the advice. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Splendid, Eye-Opening Book!, July 4, 2007

By	Roger Keeling (Portland, OR.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Richard Moore's book, "The High Blood Pressure Solution," is by no means perfect. The text is repetitive at times, for example. And the dietary program he recommends is sound, but sketchy; you'll probably find yourself hunting for additional materials -- low salt cook books, for example -- to round it out.

Despite that, I give this book 5 stars because it may just be one of the most important books of its kind ever written, a book that could conceivably save millions of lives if recognized and adopted worldwide. And there's every good reason why it should be: the science behind it is absolutely solid. Moore is not only a medical doctor, but ALSO a biophysicist, and this book well reflects that dual background.

A little of my own history may be instructive here. I first developed Stage I / II hypertension in the late 1990s, and did little about it. In April of 2002, I was sent to the ER with hypokalemia (low potassium). From that time until now (July, 2007), I obtained effectively NO help from any of the six doctors I consulted. My current provider is terrific in most ways, but even her help on this has been marginal. My complaint with all these people: though they proudly display their medical degrees, NONE had the slightest clue why I had developed high blood pressure. Not one could explain the hypokalemia, or how it related to my hypertension. Only one ever so much as mentioned diet, saying "You've cut back on salt, right? Good." None had any better idea on treatment but to ply me with expensive drugs that inflicted unending and often brutal side effects. Only my current -- and very caring -- provider took the time to discuss exercise and the critical role it can play.

I finally concluded that the word "essential" in the term "essential hypertension" really means, "We don't have a stinkin' clue."

And as Dr. Moore has now shown me, they were all wrong. A few medical researchers figured out long ago what causes most hypertension; an even larger number of researchers have known, for DECADES, the best course of treatment. Hint: it isn't drugs, and it doesn't require a super-human change in diet or lifestyle for most people. It does make demands, but as I've found they are not nearly so onerous as one might imagine.

Moore, who as a biophysicist spent his career investigating cellular level functions, explains in simple terms the role of sodium and potassium -- the two critical electrolytes -- in the life of every cell in your body. This is really just high school level science. Most people can grasp it, but it is technical. If that's not your thing, Dr. Moore provides chapter summaries and an invitation to skip the hard science parts. I ate it up, however, because for the first time I could see what has been going wrong with my body.

And knowledge is power. In just one week, adopting only a rough outline of his recommendations, I pulled my average BP down into a very safe zone ... something I'd not seen once in the previous 7 years despite all those medications. Those gains have continued, and I anticipate that in coming months I will bring it down further. The key to this is what Moore calls the K-Factor: the ratio of sodium to potassium that you consume. Americans frequently take in less potassium than sodium. Moore builds a case for aiming to reach a K-Factor of 4 (four times as much potassium as sodium each day). He also touches on other critical health issues, such as Type II diabetes ... conditions that may also benefit by adopting a high K-Factor diet.

Note that the author does not claim to have discovered any much of this. The work he and his colleagues did helped elucidate fine points in the knowledge of cell biology (he worked on the pH levels inside cells, for example). But what he HAS done is masterfully synthesize diverse findings drawn from the thousands upon thousands of scientific journal articles published over the decades. He weaves this into a coherent narrative, something no one else that I know of ever accomplished prior to Moore's work.

Before I read this book, I simply had no idea why I was suffering from hypertension. The vast majority of books, articles, and patient information pamphlets I'd read had simply said, "No one knows what causes most hypertension." Some books advance what I believe are half-baked arguments. Many are decent books, advocating fundamentally sound high-potassium, low-sodium diets, but usually based only on empirical observations ... a useful start, but not nearly as good as true science, which requires operative theories tested and ultimately winnowed down to one best theory that explains all observable data. THAT is what Moore's book is really about.

This is not just an academic distinction: by really understanding the mechanism, you can recognize that high blood pressure is merely one of a number of nasty symptoms of hypertension, and maybe not the most dangerous one. You can then set meaningful goals. So, for example, you won't end up just robotically eating a diet dictated to you; you can instead adopt one that aims to meet specific goals while giving you more options and flexibility ... keys to any kind of "lifestyle change" that you might actually hope to adopt for an entire lifetime.

Finally, I notice that several other reviewers had some unkind things to say about this book. Having plowed through MOST of the recent books on this topic that you'll find here at Amazon, I can tell you that Moore's book truly stands alone in the quality and exhaustiveness of his citations, and the fundamental logic he brings to the topic. One reviewer seemed almost enraged because his book is not the book she wanted to buy (rather like someone rating Harry Potter with one star only because it isn't about flying saucers). But her criticisms are largely unfair and inaccurate, in most cases suggesting she'd done no more than skim the actual book. Another reviewer claims Moore is flogging vegetarianism. But he most decidedly does NOT do that; he specifically notes that he lumps together vegans, vegetarians, and even folks who eat fish and lean meats sparingly. He makes it clear that ANY diet that gets you to a K-Factor of about 4 will mostly do the job, vegetarian or not.

Another reviewer praised this book, and marveled that it hadn't sold millions of copies. I concur. "The High Blood Pressure Solution" is a terrific and profoundly important book that can help you avoid hypertension, or defeat it if you already suffer from the malady.