Re: My response

When a person comes in with hypertension for the first time, do you know what the first step in treatment is? The first step is checking it again after dietary and lifestyle changes and dietary changes: quitting smoking, eating healthier, destressing. If the blood pressure is still high after several months, a workup to rule out other causes of hypertension like kidney problems is done and THEN a trial of medication is started. It's not a vending machine, at least not for hypertension.

Far be it to always blame the patient, but oftentimes people are reluctant to change their lifestyles and settle for drugs. If someone is told that they have high cholesterol and high blood pressure and that they are at higher risk for stroke, heart attack, kidney damage, etc. and that they need to quit smoking, drink less alcohol, eat less fried chicken, and they try and fail, whether or not they REALLY tried or not, it's not unreasonable to use medication. Maybe they did everything right but they still have high blood pressure. Maybe they tried halfass knowing that the end result of their non changing their lifestyle was serious illness and death. Is there anyone in this country who does not know the dangers of smoking? Is there anyone who thinks fast food 5 times a week is healthy for you? There are MANY problems with the status of healthcare in this country, and the medical system is responsible sure, but it's irresponsible to assume that people are totally innocent in the decline of their own health. Tweet