Mild BP And Heart Rate Control With Exercise And Relaxation
In a research conducted by Isaac Amigo, PhD and Ana Gonza Lez, PhD Dpto Psicologa, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain and Julio Herrera, PhD Unidad de Hipertension, Hospital Central de Asturias, Spain respectively and published in International Journal of Stress Medicine. The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of muscle relaxation training with physical exercise, as well as a placebo procedure - dummies, for the treatment of mild essential hypertension, when using BP and Heart Rate as the dependent variables - factors that may directly influence how your BP goes up or down. Essential HT is diagnosed when no specific cause of HT has been found.
SUMMARY: -
45 patients with mild Hypertension, were divided into three treatment groups,
1. Relaxation
2. Isotonic physical exercise
3. Dummy tablet group.
The results were measured with the help of blood pressure readings, heart rate, and cardiovascular responsiveness, such mental maths etc. Relaxation, it appears, gives better control of heart rate than physical exercise, however after 6 months of followup, 3 subjects on Dummy tablets had to be put on blood pressure medicines, while none of those from relaxation or exercise groups were put on any medicines.
Hence there appears to be a strong reason that relaxation and physical exercise can reduce blood pressure to a significant extent. The purpose of this study is just to reconfirm the findings. Treatment recommendations for mild hypertension are controversial, particularly as the potential side-effects of the antihypertensive drugs may be significant. The US Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure recommends non-drug therapies as the initial treatment for individuals with mild hypertension.
METHOD:-
21 females and 24 males were included in this study and screened for the following:-
1. Suffering from mild hypertension.
2. Having hypertension since the last 6 months.
3. Aged between 18 to 60 years.
4. Have no psychiatric problems.
5. Absence of regular physical exercise.
6. Free from any heart disease.
Earlier the patients were invited for interview and screening of all body parameters, including recording of all baseline parameters before starting the study. After 6 months all the subjects were called, and once again all body parameters were noted.
METHOD:-
All the 45 subjects were randomly divided into 3 groups.
1. Relaxation
2. Isotonic physical exercise
3. Dummy tablet group.
The relaxation group was trained on relaxation techniques and were asked to continue these at home. Those in the dummy group were given specific exercises to provide a warmup to such patients. Those in the exercise group were shown aerobic physical exercises for 30 minutes each for 8 weeks on Ergometric bicycles.
DISCUSSION:-
This study clearly demonstrates that both relaxation and physical exercise are very useful in lowering both Systolic-Upper and Diastolic-Lower pressure, as compared to the Dummy tablet group.
The patients were further advised to continue to practice relaxation and physical exercises in their relevant groups. Only heart rate reduction was more in the relaxation group as compared with the physical exercise group and was also maintained.
Hence it would be also worth considering usage of non medical treatments for mild hypertension, such as relaxation and physical exercises, which in turn will improve the quality of life.
Compiled from various international research journals available at google scholar by D. Mukherjee having 38 years of pharmaceutical (Cardiac, Diabetic, Neurology, Pain & Inflammation products) experience with a Swiss Multinational Company NOVARTIS and edited by Dr Sandeep Ahlawat, MBBS
