Top Things to Know: Beyond Medications and Diet: Alternative Approaches to Lowering Blood Pressure
Published: April 22, 2013
- One in 3 adults in the US has high blood pressure (BP).
- Also known as the “silent killer,” high BP often goes undetected and has no symptoms until a major event such as a heart attack or stroke occurs.
- The purposes of this scientific statement were twofold:
- to summarize the BP-lowering efficacy of several alternative approaches and
- to provide a class of recommendation (COR) for the implementation of these approaches in clinical practice based on the available level of evidence (LOE) from published literature.
- Alternative approaches to lowering BPs higher than 120/80 are classified into 3 categories:
- behavioral therapies (meditation techniques, yoga, biofeedback, and relaxation or stress-reduction programs);
- non-invasive procedures or devices (device-guided breathing modulation and acupuncture); and
- exercise-based regimens (aerobic, resistance, and isometric exercise methods).
- Biofeedback techniques are one possible tool to lower BP in clinical practice (LOE B and a IIb COR) relative to BP-lowering efficacy).
- Device-guided breathing was classified as “reasonable to perform” in clinical practice in order to reduce BP (LOE B and IIa COR) for BP-lowering efficacy).
- If it is clinically appropriate and not contraindicated, dynamic aerobic exercise “should be performed” in most patients to reduce BP (LOE A and COR I) for BP-lowering efficacy).
- Isometric handgrip exercise may be an option in practice to reduce BP (LOE C and IIb COR) for BP-lowering efficacy).
- Dynamic aerobic exercise had the highest LOE for reducing BP and the greatest potential for improving other cardiovascular health parameters (e.g., lipids, glucose).
- Future research should assess the effectiveness of combining alternative approaches together or with other dietary/lifestyle approaches.
Citation
Brook RD, Appel LJ, Rubenfire M, Ogedegbe O, Bisognano JD, Elliott W, Fuchs FD, Hughes JW, Lackland DT, Staffileno BA, Townsend RR, Rajagopalan S; on behalf of the American Heart Association Professional Education Committee of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research, Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing, Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, and Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism. Beyond medications and diet: alternative approaches to lowering blood pressure: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension. 2013: published online before print April 22, 2013, 10.1161/HYP.0b013e318293645f.
http://hyper.ahajournals.org/lookup/doi/10.1161/HYP.0b013e318293645f