High blood pressure vaccination

Currently, there is no injectable vaccine approved for marketing that can effectively prevent essential hypertension. The "vaccine" that can really help you avoid high blood pressure and make it milder and later in the disease is a daily lifestyle intervention program. Clinical data shows that its effectiveness can reach more than 60%, which is much more reliable than many injections that are still in the experimental stage.

Last week, I was sitting at a free clinic in the community. I met Aunt Zhang who was carrying half a bag of water radishes. She pushed her way to the front and the first thing she asked was, "Doctor, I heard that there are now high blood pressure preventive shots. After one injection, you don't need to take antihypertensive drugs for three years. Where can I get it?" ”, several old men and women nearby immediately came over, holding up screenshots of Moments on their phones and asking if it was true.

It is not that there is no relevant research at all. Therapeutic vaccines against hypertension at home and abroad have been developed for almost 20 years, and several domestic vaccines have entered Phase II clinical trials. They mainly target the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. One injection can continuously suppress the secretion of pressor hormones for several months, eliminating the need to take antihypertensive drugs every day. But let me pour cold water on everyone first: First, this is for treatment, not prevention for healthy people. ； Secondly, it has not yet been launched on the market, and its safety and effectiveness are still being verified. There is still a lot of controversy in the academic circles - one group believes that patients' medication compliance can be greatly improved in the future. After all, many people forget to take antihypertensive drugs. ； The other group is worried about whether long-term inhibition of the pressor pathway will bring potential risks of hypotension and electrolyte imbalance, and more clinical data are needed to support this. As for the "getting a shot to prevent high blood pressure" rumored in WeChat Moments, it is purely because unscrupulous merchants are taking advantage of the popularity to cut leeks. If there is such a good thing, we clinicians would have been the first to line up to get it, and it is not their turn to sell it in WeChat Moments.

As for the truly usable "vaccination", it is really not a high-tech one, it is hidden in the details of your daily life. A few years ago, I took care of an old patient, Uncle Li. He was diagnosed with prehypertension at the age of 55, with a reading of 135/85mmHg. His brother had a cerebral infarction before he reached 50. He was so frightened that he had to hold down his blood pressure no matter what he said. I didn’t take any health supplements. I just replaced the coarse salt I had been eating at home for half my life with low-sodium salt (a word of caution here, people with renal insufficiency should not switch to low-sodium salt casually. They need to ask a doctor). I changed the pickled radish and pickled elbows that I had every meal to once a week at most. I walked around the moat for 40 minutes after dinner every day and gave up smoking. I used to stay up until 11 o’clock every day to watch chess live broadcasts, but now I go to bed on time at 10:30. Now he is 62, and his blood pressure has been stable at 120/75mmHg every time he has been checked. He does not need to take any antihypertensive drugs. Last time he came for a review, he showed off to me that he had just won the championship in the community chess competition.

Some people also argue with me and say, "My parents both have high blood pressure. I was born with the gene, so what's the use of prevention?" ”, this is really wrong. We did a set of follow-up data last year. Among people with a family history of hypertension, those who adhere to a healthy lifestyle have a 47% lower risk of developing the disease than those who eat hazelnuts and smoke late at night. Even if they do get it in the end, the average age of onset is 12 years later, and the risk of complications such as myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction is also 30% lower. Think about it, if you have high blood pressure at the age of 70 and you have it at the age of 40, will your quality of life be the same for the rest of your life?

There are also young people who think, "I'm in good health. High blood pressure is caused by old men and old ladies, so there's no need to guard against it." They just hired a 29-year-old programmer last week. After working on the project for three days in a row, he suddenly had a severe headache. He came to the emergency room and his blood pressure was 180/110mmHg. He already had slight kidney damage. When asked about his daily eating habits, he said that he eats takeout every day, heavy on salt and spicy food. He also likes to eat skewers and drink beer at night. He weighs 180 pounds and his waist circumference is almost 100cm. Today's hypertension is really not a disease of the elderly. The prevalence of hypertension among people aged 18 to 34 has exceeded 10%. Many people usually have no symptoms, but when checked, the blood pressure is over 160. It will be too late to pay attention to it until complications occur.

Many people know to eat less salt, but they don’t know that there is a lot of invisible salt hidden in places you don’t expect: salad dressings, dried noodles, plums, soaked dried sea cucumbers, and even the sports drinks you drink contain a lot of sodium, and you may overeat it without even realizing it. The daily salt intake recommended by the World Health Organization is 5g, which is as much as a beer bottle cap with the rubber pad removed. If you eat a pack of braised beef noodles, it will be almost 3g. If you add a salted duck egg, it will exceed the daily limit. There are also many people who ignore the impact of emotions. They are anxious and stressed for a long time, and their sympathetic nerves are always excited, and their blood pressure will quietly rise. I have seen several young men in sales who focus on performance every day, and their blood pressure fluctuates. It is more difficult to control than the elderly.

To put it bluntly, this real high blood pressure preventive shot is not a once and for all solution, and it does not need to cost a lot of money. There is no need to believe in those sky-high price magic needles or buy a bunch of useless health care products. Put less salt in your daily meals, walk two more steps, stay up less late, and don't take everything to heart. It is more effective than any needle. If scientists really wait until one day to make a real vaccine, it won’t be too late for us to get vaccinated. Now, put down the pickles in your hands, it’s better than anything else.