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Water Helps Symptoms of Low Blood Pressure
Dec. 2, 2004 -- Feeling light-headed? Drink two cups of water and sit down for a few minutes.
That's what helped people with low blood pressure in a small British study. The 14 participants had a nervous system problem called autonomic failure, which disrupts automatic bodily functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, and sweating. As a result, they may feel faint after standing.
So can anyone else. You needn't have autonomic failure to experience that momentary woozy sensation. Blood pressure may fall when people stand up, creating the dizzy feeling.
How do you keep the room from spinning when you stand up? Christopher Mathias, FMedSci, of Imperial College London, tried a cheap, low-tech solution: water.
Mathias and his colleague, Tim Young, gave participants about 2 cups of distilled water to drink while seated. Fifteen minutes later, participants stood up. Their blood pressure was higher after drinking the water, and their symptoms improved.
The finding could help anyone feel steady on his feet. Besides helping people with autonomic failure, "it may also benefit the many without autonomic failure who faint as a result of low blood pressure," says Mathias in a news release.
The study appears in the December issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.
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