Complementary and alternative medicine in systemic arterial hypertension

Objective: The objective was to identify the types of complementary and alternative medicine used by patients with hypertension and factors related to their use. Methods: This is an integrative review of literature. Articles published between 2011 and 2015 were selected. The search was performed on the CAPES/MEC electronic database, and the descriptors used were: hypertension, complementary therapies, complementary remedies, flower essences, color therapy, aromatherapy, phytotherapy, chinese herbal drugs and massage. Results: In total, 343 articles were found and 6 were selected. The most frequent therapy found was phytotherapy, mainly in decoction and tea. Mostly women and married people used complementary therapies. The main related factors were conventional treatment side-effects, hope to treat the cause of the disease, and faith of cure. Conclusion: Health professionals need to know the types of therapies, their benefits, interactions and side-effects in order to guide their patients. These therapies,...