Dive into the first real medications used to treat dangerously high blood pressure. From muscle poisons and anti-malarials to a plant root used for centuries, we trace how hydralazine and reserpine emerged as early antihypertensive therapies. We also explore the landmark VA Cooperative Study, which proved that lowering blood pressure could prevent strokes, heart failure, and kidney damage—and began changing modern medicine.

• (00:00:00) - Introduction: Hypertension Pharmacological Options
• (00:02:48) - Sodium Thiocyanate: The First BP-Lowering Medication
• (00:04:58) - Landmark Study: VA Cooperative
• (00:08:12) - Anti-Malarials: The Accidental Hypertension Treatement
• (00:10:29) - Pentaquine: The First Proof
• (00:13:42) - Hydralazine: An Anti-Malarial That Became a Blood Pressure Drug
• (00:15:04) - Reserpine: The Plant That Lowered Blood Pressure
• (00:19:09) - Turning Point: The Beginning of Modern Hypertension Care
• (00:22:03) - Outro: What Comes Next

Before thiazides and ACE inhibitors, clinicians relied on bleeding, low-salt diets, metabolic experiments, and even nerve-cutting surgeries to manage dangerous blood pressure. This episode explains how these early interventions—and key discoveries about volume, salt, and baroreceptors—shaped our understanding of hypertension and paved the way for pharmacologic breakthroughs.

• (00:00:00) - Introduction: Early Battles With Blood Pressure
• (00:02:08) - Bloodletting: The First “Therapy”
• (00:04:53) - Patient Story: “Mom, I Don’t Want to Die”
• (00:06:59) - Sponsor Break: Dr. Clay’s Drainage Kit
• (00:08:43) - Enter Salt: The Oldest Dietary Culprit
• (00:14:05) - Diets & The Rise of the “Rice Houses”
• (00:21:09) - Baroreceptors: The Nervous System’s Pressure Sensors
• (00:25:11) - Sympathectomies: Cutting Nerves to Cut Pressure
• (00:26:41) - Recap & What Comes Next

We trace the origins of how medicine first understood and measured blood pressure. From early fluid-pressure experiments and invasive animal studies to the invention of the modern blood-pressure cuff, we follow the slow realization that chronically elevated blood pressure is dangerous. We also explore the long-standing debate surrounding "essential hypertension" and how research—from Janeway's observations to insurance-company data and the Framingham Study—ultimately shifted medical practice toward active treatment.

• (00:00:00) - Intro: History of Blood Pressure
• (00:01:35) - What is Blood Pressure
• (00:03:53) - Normal vs High Blood Pressure
• (00:04:48) - Histories View of Hypertension
• (00:07:35) - The Origin of Blood Pressure Measurement
• (00:09:12) - Stephen Hales & Animal Experiments
• (00:12:44) - Measurement Devices
• (00:15:55) - Early Clues of Danger: Kidneys, Hearts
• (00:19:25) - What Famous Clinicians Believed
• (00:24:31) - Hypertensions Dangers Emerge
• (00:25:27) - Insurance Actuaries Enter the Scene
• (00:27:20) - The Framingham Heart Study
• (00:27:52) - Closing