Worried about high blood pressure? Relax
If you have hypertension, there's no need for your doctor to jump the gun and start pushing blood pressure pills. The reality is that hypertension can be normalized by making some simple lifestyle changes.
And relaxation training is one of the most important changes you can make.
Participants in a recent study successfully tossed at least one of their blood pressure meds just by adding relaxation to their daily regimen and by learning about certain lifestyle risks. The combination paid off, as peers who received just the lifestyle counseling didn't achieve the same positive results.
I'm always amazed by the fact that, despite there being no shortage of blood pressure medications on the market, only a third of patients are actually able to get their blood pressure under control. That means every time your doc writes you a script for a blood pressure med, there's a two-in-three chance that it's not going to work.
One of the report's authors, Herbert Benson, M.D., began talking about the benefits of relaxation about 35 years ago, and published a book called The Relaxation Response. He has pushed to get relaxation used more often in treatment plans, and the mixed (at best) results of blood pressure meds demonstrate why mainstream docs need to take Benson's work to heart.
The relaxation response can include meditation, biofeedback, prayer and deep breathing. I recommend the emWave by HeartMath (www.emwave.com). It helps you learn how to manage your body's stress reaction. It may seem pricey at $200, but think how much money you could potentially save by not buying those pills—especially if they aren't doing a thing to normalize your blood pressure anyway. And as always, I don't receive any sort of compensation for the products I recommend. If I find a good thing, I like to be able to pass it on to my patients and my readers.
