How Chia Seeds Can Help Parkinson’s Low Blood Pressure

[Thal]

When you stand up and feel light-headed it’s often due to low blood pressure or “orthostatic hypotension.”

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Note: please read Park_Bear's reply below.

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Bob Ross

[park_bear]

Nothing against Chia seeds. However this:

"If you have PD, you need to drink water constantly even if you are not thirsty!"

Is really terrible advice for anyone:

1. with Parkinson's

2. with orthostatic hypotension

3. with low blood pressure

4. and anyone else

Why? For starters it will lower your blood pressure. In addition it is surprising how easily forcing plain water can kill you. Plenty of hits from this simple search:

duckduckgo.com/?q=Person+di...

Why forcing plain water reduces blood volume and thereby lowers your blood pressure:

Initially, after drinking water, the increased volume raises blood pressure. However, your body needs to maintain a fixed osmolarity, which is to say a particular concentration of sodium in the blood plasma. Adding plain water forces the kidneys to excrete it, which unavoidably loses a bit of sodium. So as a result of excreting the excess you end up with less blood volume then when you started.

How to avoid this-your body will naturally tell you whatever it needs. So when you are thirsty drink whatever is most appealing, from among healthful choices. Also, if you do not have high blood pressure, salt your food to taste. By simply responding appropriately to your body's thirst and hunger, proper blood volume and osmolarity is automatically maintained.

A friend of mine almost died from water intoxication/hyponatremia as a result of attempting to follow a doctor's instructions for preparation for colonoscopy. She weighed about 100 pounds. She asked the doctor to adjust the preparation instructions for her body weight and the doctor refused to do so. She attempted to follow the instructions, which included drinking a lot of plain water. She ended up having convulsions as result of hyponatremia and would have been unable to dial 911. Fortunately I was present and rushed her to the emergency room.

There are special instructions for a person with orthostatic hypotension, but I have gone on long enough.

[LindaP50 in reply to park_bear]

Friend is lucky you were there to take her to the emergency room.

Agree that drinking too much water and forcing water (a method "bad" people use to get someone to give them info) is harmful.

However, please take note. The elderly lose the ability to know when they are thirsty. Thirst response becomes weaker in the elderly. Need to be reminded to sip on water throughout the day, or "disguise" the water via watermelon, ice pops and the like. Otherwise dehydration can set in - dehydration in an elderly person causes confusion and weakness of the legs. Some end up in the hospital and then in Rehab for physical therapy to learn to walk again. My knowledge comes from working with seniors for 12 years.

As for Chia seeds, I bought a bag two weeks ago. Plan is to make overnight blueberry chia with oatmeal and yogurt for a healthy breakfast.

[park_bear in reply to LindaP50]

Using liquids other than plain water is beneficial. Most fruits, for example, contain potassium which is also an important electrolyte.

I am in the elderly classification and it may be that my sense of thirst has become muted. However, there are workarounds – when drinking something really feels good I take that as a sign to continue.

[KERRINGTON in reply to park_bear]

Hi Park-bear, I'm glad I found this post as I'm recently dealing with high, low, and OH blood pressure all at once. My doctor says it is a very difficult combo to treat, and mentioned a few things I already know. They are mostly about postural awareness, and watching what you eat. You mentioned you knew of special instructions for OH. In your spare time could you elaborate. Thanks !

[park_bear in reply to KERRINGTON]

Before attempting any intervention it is essential to understand what is going on. The first step is to have your own blood pressure cuff. Perhaps you already do.

There's a particular pattern of low and high blood pressure that arises from orthostatic hypotension:

Orthostatic hypotension is the result of impairment of the fast acting postural blood pressure regulation system. There is also a slow acting blood pressure regulation system that operates over a period of hours. During the day when you are not lying down the average blood pressure is too low. As result it slowly rises during the course of the day and peaks in evening. At night when you are laying down blood pressure is now too high and slowly drops. It reaches its nadir upon waking in the morning.

So the first question is whether this is your pattern?

Another question is whether you're taking a dopamine agonist? This can cause orthostatic hypertension which can be blamed on Parkinson's instead.