BETHESDA, Maryland (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Declaring they had “potentially lifesaving information,” federal health officials said on Friday that they were ending a major study early because it has already conclusively answered a question cardiologists have puzzled over for decades: how low should blood pressure go?

The answer: way lower than the current guidelines.

This announcement seems to complement two separate studies on hypertension conducted in the U.S. and the Philippines showing that the rates of hypertension among the population have gone done significantly, although not because of medication.

In the U.S. study, participants showed an average systolic blood pressure reading (the upper number) of 120, far lower than the current guidelines of 140 and 150 for people over 60, effectively reducing their risk of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes by a third and their risk of death reduced by nearly a quarter.

Similar results were seen in the Philippine study.

What was amazing was that none of the study participants in the U.S. and the Philippines were taking any blood cholesterol-lowering drugs.

In the U.S. study, the overwhelming reason for the drop in blood pressure was daily exposure to entertaining political news involving the Republican presidential candidates, especially Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Bobby Jindal — proof that humor and ridiculousness significantly contribute to less stress and healthier outlook in life.

In the Philippine study, three factors contributed to the overall drop in hypertension rates:

1. Entertaining political news involving Filipino politicians like 2016 presidential candidates VP Jejomar Binay and former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas. Not to mention President NoyNoy Aquino and his legion of apologists and spokespersons.
2. The growing popularity of satirical news on social media.
3. Filipinos, especially in Metro Manila, have been getting a lot of daily physical exercise qeueing for kilometers and walking up and down the stairs leading to the crowded  ticket booths and platforms of MRT, the light railway system. Many of the study participants also reported that they now walk to work instead of lining up for hours to board the trains and sitting in buses or jeepneys stuck in nightmarish traffic.