Learning to relax can improve blood pressure and may reduce the need for medication in some seniors, according to a new study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
In this eight week study, senior people were randomly assigned to a stress management group or a lifestyle modification group (control group). The stress management group attended a weekly one hour session where they learned to relax through deep breathing and meditation. They were also asked to listen to a 20 minute relaxation tape every day. In their weekly sessions, the control group learned about the stress response and its impact on health as well as nutrition, exercise, and weight loss. They were asked to listen to educational tapes about lifestyle behavior modification for 20 minutes a day.
Hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure (the top number of reading) of greater than 140 mm Hg and a diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of greater than 90 mm Hg. After following the treatment program, systolic blood pressure decreased in both groups: 9.4 mm HG for the stress management group and 8.8 mm Hg for the lifestyle modification group. In addition, 14 people in the stress management group and 5 people in the control group were able to keep their systolic blood pressure below 140 mm Hg over an eight week period after the initial study while one or more of their high blood pressure medications was reduced or eliminated.
A common issue for older adults, high blood pressure can be hard to treat. In fact, its prevalence among the elderly (age 65 and over) increased from 44 percent in 1995 to 55 percent in 2003. And 65 percent to 75 percent of elderly hypertensive patients have isolated systolic hypertension, an important risk factor for heart disease.
"This result has clinical implications since reduction in systolic blood pressure of 5 mm Hg reduces mortality by 7 percent and risk of stroke by 30 percent," Ph.D. and his colleagues from the Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.
This study has shown that stress management techniques and lifestyle behavior changes are both effective in lowering blood pressure. Combining these two approaches may improve a person’s chance of reducing blood pressure and lowering heart disease risk.
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