Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Hypertension

Abstract

Thirty six percent of people in USA and Canada regularly use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the prevention and treatment of different diseases, including hypertension. Generally, majority of the hypertensive patients do not disclose the use of such remedies, and also health care providers do not usually ask their hypertensive patients if they use CAM. The widespread consumption of CAM in hypertension requires clear understanding of their underlying mechanism of action, efficacy and safety. This chapter will provide a comprehensive list of CAM commonly used by Americans for the prevention and treatment of hypertension as well as their postulated mechanism of action. Modulation of drug metabolizing enzymes and their safety will also be covered along with the clinical consequences, i.e. drug-herb or herb-disease interactions. patients and healthcare providers should also be careful with using CAM therapies, because not only is there minimal evidence that several CAM products work to treat hypertension, but their safety hasn't been well-established.