Mindfulness practice leads to drop in BP

Amy Taylor October 17, 2013

The study involved 56 men and women diagnosed with prehypertension – blood pressure that was higher than desirable, but not too high that medications would be prescribed. This condition has gained increasing attention from doctors because it is associated with a wide range of cardiovascular problems.

One group of patients went through eight group sessions of 2 ½ hours per week of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)programme that were headed by an experienced instructor. During the MBSR training, participants learned three types of mindfulness skills – body scanning, sitting meditation and yoga exercises. They were also encouraged to perform mindfulness techniques at home.Another group of patients received lifestyle advice plus a muscle-relaxation activity.

After the study, blood pressure measurements were taken between the two groups to determine whether the mindfulness-based intervention had a significant impact on the blood pressure of prehypertensive patients.

Results showed that patients who received MSBR had significant reductions in clinic-based blood pressure measurements. Their systolic blood pressure was reduced by an average of nearly 5 millimetres of mercury (mm Hg), which is way higher than the 1mm Hg reduction among patients in the control group. The MSBR group also had a reduction of 2 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure, compared to 1 mm Hg increase in the other group.

"Mindfulness-based stress reduction is an increasingly popular practice that has been purported to alleviate stress, treat depression and anxiety, and treat certain health conditions," said Joel W. Hughes, PhD, the lead author of the study from Kent State (Ohio) University. He argued that even though the effects of mindfulness-based interventions to blood pressure are modest, they are similar to many drug interventions and potentially large enough to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Nevertheless, the researchers said more studies are needed to see if the results are sustained over time.

Their work was published in the Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

Source of this article:

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Helps Lower Blood Pressure, Study Finds