Press Release

Garlic helps hypertensive patients

In the modern stressful and fast moving world, several old age diseases are now being
commonly observed in young adults. Hypertension or high blood pressure which was once
commonly observed in patients who are in their 60s or 70s are now being observed in patients
who are in their early 20s. The usual treatment of hypertension consists of anti-hypertensive
medicines such as 𝛽- blockers or ACE -2 antagonists. However, researchers from Kayloic
company presented an alternate treatment of hypertension based on natural ingredients.
Karin Ried et al. (2010) ! tested the effectiveness of the aged garlic by conducting a
randomized double blind test with Kayolic’s aged garlic. The aged garlic is just a regular garlic
that has been preserved for few years to remove the harmful effects of normal garlic. This trial
consisted of 50 hypertensive patients who were divided into two different groups – the active
group and the control group. The active group received 960 mg of aged garlic per day while the
control group received a matching placebo. Their Systolic and Diastolic blood pressures were
measured after 12 weeks. They found that the control group saw a mean lowering of 10.2 ± 4.3
mm Hg of Systolic blood pressure while the Diastolic blood pressure was almost similar in both
the groups. The tolerability of aged garlic was exceptionally good. Only two patients dropped
out from the active group due to gastrointestinal discomfort while 1 patient in the followup
was lost due to loss of communication. Almost 24 % of the patients in the control group
reported blenching and taste sensation in the mouth while 8% reported the same in the control
group. No serious adverse reaction was observed.
This press release was issued particularly for the medical community who are dealing
with hypertensive patients. This double blind randomized control trial showed that not only is
the aged garlic superior to placebo but it’s effectiveness is comparable to that of commonly
used anti hypertensive medication. While anti hypertensive medicines comes with its own side
effects such as insomnia, restlessness & anxiety, aged garlic appears to be well tolerated with
no documented side effects. Therefore, doctors should consider this as a new line of treatment.

1. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20594781
News Story

As our problem goes modern, can the solution go traditional ?

Richard who is a 22 year old recent college graduate, visited his primary care doctor because
he was having a terribly bad headache for the past few days. On measuring his vital signs, the
doctor was surprised to find his blood pressure hovering around 160 /100. The doctor asked
him to reduce his stress level and return back to the office within a month. After a month his
blood pressure was still high. The doctor realized that Richard was suffering from chronic
hypertension and immediately put him on anti hypertensive medications. Unfortunately most
of these medications have to be taken throughout a patient’s life and at no moment can he
discontinue them. Some 5 – 6 decades back, hypertension in young adults was practically
unheard of. Now it has become a plague. The competitive world of ours has pushed many
young students into an overdrive, thereby compromising their health. In the modern world the
threshold age for old age related diseases such as COPD, Cancers, Diabetes, Coronary artery
diseases and hypertension has lowered by at least 3-4 decades.
Is there a natural remedy for modern days health problem ? Many people treat
traditional/natural medicine with skepticism. However, traditional medicines that can
overcome the threshold of rigorous scientific tests should be welcomed by the skeptics and the
medical community at large. It’s important to remember that the 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine
was awarded to Dr. Tu Youyou for her discovery of anti malarial traditional medicines.
Traditional Indian medicines such as withania somnifera or Azadirachta indica have shown
benefits in randomized clinical trials. Similarly traditional medicines of South America have
been shown to be superior to the placebo.
In the hypertension front which is currently rampant in young adult, researchers have
studied several traditional medicines in a bid to reduce dependence on the current
hypertensive medication that comes with its own side effects. The results from aged garlic
extract (AGE) is particularly fascinating. The therapeutic benefits of garlic was known from time
immemorial, however, garlic had its own gastrointestinal side effects. To overcome those side
effects, scientist removed the harmful component of garlic called allicin. AGE refers to those
garlic that have been aged for sufficiently long time to remove allicin. At least 10 randomized
double blind tests have been conducted so far on this topic and all the tests have shown that
AGE is not only superior to a placebo but it’s anti hypertensive effect is comparable to the
modern day medication such as 𝛽- blockers or ACE -2 antagonists. The very fact that none of
these test have shown any significant adverse side effect makes AGE an ideal candidate for the
treatment of hypertension in young patients.
A large scale NSF funding is required in traditional medicines, as it would lead to more
efficient traditional medicines which are mostly devoid of any long term side effects and could
be of immense benefit to young patients.