Relax Your Way To Lower Blood Pressure
Reported September 22, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Looking for a drug-free way to lower your blood pressure? The solution may be as simple as taking a few deep breaths.
A new study found an audio relaxation program with background sounds of ocean waves and a calming voice lowered blood pressure more than Mozart music in a group of elderly people with high blood pressure.
Half the group listened to a 12-minute audio-guided relaxation training program (ATP) three times a week for four months and the other half listened to a 12-minute Mozart sonata during the same time period. After recording systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate before and after each session, the researchers found the ATP listeners lowered their systolic blood pressure by more than six percent. Thats compared to almost five percent in the Mozart group. The diastolic blood pressure levels and heart rates decreased by similar levels in both groups, researchers said.
This program may provide yet another way to help manage hypertension in conjunction with medication, lifestyle changes, exercise, diet and stress management, said Jean Tang, Ph.D., ARNP, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor in the College of Nursing at Seattle University.
Tang also said that some of the elderly people in the ATP group reported disliking the mans voice in the recordings, but even when they didnt like the program, their blood pressure was still reduced.
SOURCE: Study presented at the American Heart Associations 62nd Annual Fall Conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research.