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Hawthorn tea can help treat high blood pressure/can help cure high blood pressure.

I think "cure" is better. Because most of the time we use cure something, but we use treat someone for something (according to the Oxford Dictionary).

However I read "treat high blood pressure" in many places like nytimes.com, newyorker.com and so on. Are these examples important compared to the Oxford Dictionary?

PinkCrocodile
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    There is a distinction in meaning that you are overlooking: a 'cure' eliminates the problem, so that one no longer needs to take action to address it. To 'treat' a problem is to address it, and applies even if the condition is ultimately not correctable, merely manageable - for example, insulin-dependent diabetes. – Jeff Zeitlin Jul 27 '18 at 11:23
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    These words are used differently in medicine. "cure" implies that the condition is gone for good. "treat" does not necessarily imply a permanent resolution. – John Feltz Jul 27 '18 at 11:23
  • Thank you for both of the comments. I see. In this case I will choose "treat". The "cure" would only be possible, if the patient would go through an entire lifestyle change. I will let her know about the necessity of the lifestyle change, so she would be able to cure high blood pressure, but the further information is not in this sentence, so in this sentence I will use "treat". Will it be grammatically correct, if I use "treat" in this sentence? – PinkCrocodile Jul 27 '18 at 11:44
  • If anyone knows why my question is losing points, please write me, so I can write an appropriate question next time. Without knowing the reason I can not do better. Thank you. – PinkCrocodile Jul 27 '18 at 12:15
  • @PinkCrocodile I suspect it's because it's a question the answer to which can be simply found in a dictionary. However as I pointed out, things aren't always black and white and the answer is slightly more complicated than "cure means eliminate and treat means try to cure." – Zebrafish Jul 27 '18 at 12:20
  • My original question would be about dictionary or usage through an example. It turned out, that dictionary is "to rule them all", so my original question got an answer, too. I will pay more attention next time. Thank you very much again. – PinkCrocodile Jul 27 '18 at 12:52

2 Answers2

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If you want a simple distinction between the two words, then cure is to eliminate a health problem altogether, and treat is to mitigate a health problem's ill effects, or improve a person's wellbeing living with that condition.

cure
1. (tr) to get rid of (an ailment, fault, or problem); heal

treat
5. (Medicine) (tr) to apply treatment to: to treat a patient for malaria.
Collins English Dictionary

However if you want to get more nuanced the distinction may be less strong. The application of a treatment may result in a cure, and it may be said that a patient is treated and discharged (for all you know they are cured from the treatment). That's why I say in some cases "treat" can mean "cured", but strictly speaking the distinction is the one I mentioned above.

Coming to your question about curing or treating high blood pressure, that depends on whether the person's blood pressure can be brought to a level that is no longer considered "high"; in that case they are cured. Otherwise the prevention of an exacerbated condition, or the maintenance of the current level would be treatment without elimination of the problem altogether (cure).

Zebrafish
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Treatment need not be cure.

The doctor always "treats" you. You may eventually be "cured," or may not be.

cure

1 Relieve (a person or animal) of the symptoms of a disease or condition.
‘he was cured of the disease’

However,
treat

2 Give medical care or attention to; try to heal or cure.
‘the two were treated for cuts and bruises’

Note the try to in "try to heal or cure" in the definition above.

"Hawthorn tea can help treat high blood pressure" unless you claim that it will actually "cure" the disorder.

Kris
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    It's a bit more complicated than that definition of "treat". A physician, knowing a condition to be incurable most likely won't be trying to cure anything, but lessening the adverse effects or improving a person's life quality. That's why I said in my answer there's a simple answer and a more nuanced one. – Zebrafish Jul 27 '18 at 12:16
  • There's no nuance, really. See the definitions. The meanings are mutually exclusive. There's no overlap. – Kris Jul 27 '18 at 12:19
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    @Kris Both you and dictionary definition you gave put the emphasis on "try to heal or cure" for the definition of "treat", that's just simply not correct. Palliative treatment in most cases is not trying to cure anything. There is nuance indeed. – Zebrafish Jul 27 '18 at 12:24