This is Dr. Lam, founder of DrLam.com and today we are going to talk about low blood
pressure consistently.
Now, blood pressure is an automatically regulated mechanism in our body. It is designed to provide
oxygen through blood, through our brain, as well as various parts of our body. The regulation
of blood pressure falls within many factors. Blood volume can effect the blood pressure,
the endothelial wall of the blood vessel itself constricting and dialating through what we
call baroreceptors or blood pressure sensitive receptors can help modulate the blood pressure,
and of course electrolytes and the sodium balance can also play an important factor.
The organs responsible including the kidneys, the adrenals, as well as the brain, can also
make a big factor in regulating the blood pressure on a 24/7 basis without us knowing.
Of course we can not discount the role that the heart plays as well. So maintaining normal
blood pressure is a very important part of survival. Just going from a sitting to a standing
position requires that it activates all the systems in various degrees so that we can
stand up, not feel dizzy, and are able to walk and not feel dizzy and then have normal
activity.
Any time the blood pressure is not regular the brain is not getting enough profusion
or blood flow, and then the body will suffer. In the case of adrenal fatigue, what happens
is, because the adrenal glands regulate the sodium and potassium balance, there is a tendancy,
as the adrenals get weaker, that the body is not able to regulate this as much as it
should. As a result, the sodium is usually lost through the deficieny or the subclinical
effectiveness of aldosterone: the hormone that is regulating the blood flow and the
water flow. Now this hormone is critical because in adrenal fatigue this hormone aldosterone
tends to be low. As a result the sodium is not going to be easily maintained in the body.
At this time the labratory values may be the same, or when I say the same I mean normal.
People come in a lot of them with low blood pressure because they are losing sodium, and
without sodium your water does not flow. So in other words the water stays with the sodium,
wherever the sodium goes the water goes. So as long as the sodium is high the water will
be retained in the body. When the sodium is low then the body will tend to lose water,
and if you lose water, then your blood pressure will go down; it will stay down consistently.
That is why many people with low blood pressure tend to do better when they eat more salt
they can be perked up and feel much better. But of course, you have to be careful because
too much salt can lead to another set of problems including hypertension, as well as swelling
in the legs, what we call edema. So first we have to understand that low blood pressure
is a symptom and not a disease. Number two you have to look at the big picture of how
everything else comes together. In an adrenal fatigue situation, oftentimes low blood pressure
does not stand alone; it comes along with other clinical signs and symptoms that you
have to put the pieces together. It is one of many symptoms that presents itself.
Usually the more advanced the adrenal fatigue the more prominent this is. A very interesting
thing that you also have to understand is that in the early stages of adrenal fatigue,
blood pressure tends to rise because of the vessel constriction of blood vessels narrowing
as a result of hormones; and then in later stages it tends to go down. So if you look
at the blood pressure, it can be high and still have adrenal fatigue in early stages,
if it stays low consistently then it could mean the body is in a state of advanced adrenal
fatigue if all other medical workup is normal. So, low blood pressure constistently is an
important symptom to look for in adrenal fatigue and it points us to the underlying dysfunction
that is maybe happening in the adrenal glands.
Those of you who want to learn more about this topic can read my article called 'Low
Blood Pressure and Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome.' It is available on my website, DrLam.com
I hope you've enjoyed this video. For more information on this topic, head over to DrLam.com
where I have written over a thousand articles to help educate people. You can also call
me at 626-571-1234 for more information on Adrenal Fatigue and how to navigate it. Finally,
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