Breathe: Slow Paced Breathing to Lower Blood Pressure

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Status: Completed

Conditions: High Blood Pressure

Treatments: Behavioral: Guided Breathing; Device: RESPeRATE

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: NIH

Identifiers

NCT00328016

AG0067

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of the physiological reasons for the decreases in resting blood pressure that can result from systematic practice of computer-guided breathing exercises or meditative relaxation.

Full description

In this randomized clinical trial, persons with moderately elevated blood pressure were trained in either computer-guided breathing exercises or meditative relaxation to breathing. The computer-guided breathing exercise involves listening to tones of ascending and descending pitch to which breathing is entrained to low frequencies over a 15 minute interval. The meditative relaxation involves passive attention to natural breathing for the same duration. Participants will perform these breathing exercises daily at home for four weeks. Before and after the intervention, respiratory, cardiovascular, and urinary endogenous digitalis-like factors will be systematically recorded to determine the extent to which chronic neuroendocrine changes underlie the reductions in blood pressure.

Enrollment: 44 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 40 to 70 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Over 21 years
• Systolic blood pressure 130-160 or diastolic blood pressure 85-100

Exclusion criteria

• More than one antihypertensive medication
• Beta blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers
• History of coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, angina or coronary revascularization
• Kidney disease, defined as plasma creatinine > 1.5mg/dL
• Diabetes, defined by insulin or oral hypoglycemic medication or blood sugar > 126mg/dL
• Pulmonary disease, defined as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, asthma, or use of inhaler
• Upper respiratory infection during past 30 days
• Medication that affects central nervous system function
• Steroid use
• Current pregnancy or lactation within past six months
• Current birth control medication or hormone replacement therapy
• Condition that in the judgment of the Principal Investigator is incompatible with the research study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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44 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Device Guided Breathing

Experimental group

Description:

Individual breathing rate was determined from an expandable band around the torso connected to a commercially available device (RESPeRATE, Lod, Israel) that presented distinctive tones via earphones.

Treatment:

Device: RESPeRATE

Control Group

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Control group were instructed to sit in the same manner passively attend to their breathing, and silently repeat 'one' during each exhalation. If other thoughts came to mind, they were instructed to calmly attend to their breathing.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Guided Breathing