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Yoga May Help Control Blood Pressure

Results comparable to drug therapy in many cases

August 22, 2007

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The practice of yoga and other mind-body therapies may help control hypertension, or high blood pressure, a new study finds.

Yoga techniques comprise a series of body positions and movements developed in order to help relax the body and calm the mind. It involves breath control, physical exercise and meditation.

The 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) found nearly 30 million users of relaxation techniques including meditation and yoga, and 10 million users of yoga therapies. One-fourth of those who used mind-body therapies rated them “very helpful.”

“This review shows that there is some high quality scientific literature supporting the use of mind-body therapies as a treatment for hypertension, and the magnitude of effect is clinically significant,” said Dr. Ather Ali, of the Prevention Research Center, School of Medicine, Yale University.

Despite the limitations of a review, he suggests mind-body therapies may be prudent choices for motivated patients.

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine say there has been little quality research to discriminate between positive anecdotal evidence, marketing schemes, and practices that are consistently effective and safe.

Their objective was a systematic review aims to assess the efficacy of mind-body therapies (MBT) versus placebo or active control in the treatment of hypertension. The main outcome measures include change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure pre- and post-intervention period.

The team reviewed randomized, or quasi-randomized, controlled trials comparing mind-body techniques alone or in combination with conventional treatment to conventional treatment alone or no intervention/waiting list control.

Participants in these trials were men and non-pregnant women, greater than 18 years of age with hypertension defined as a systolic blood pressure of greater than 140 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure greater than 90 mm Hg.

The types of intervention undertaken by the study participants were mind-body techniques such as meditation, yoga, and guided imagery techniques.

The review and synthesis of 12 published randomized trials found largely favorable effects of the most popular mind-body therapies on systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Mind-Body Therapies significantly reduced systolic blood pressure by a mean 11.52 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 6.83 mm Hg.

Of the three mind-body therapies analyzed, yoga therapies demonstrated results of the greatest magnitude, with mean SBP reductions of 19.07 mm Hg and DBP by 13.13 mm Hg. Significant results were seen in SBP reductions by yoga and meditation therapy, while only yoga therapies demonstrated significant reductions in DBP.

The absolute reductions in blood pressure were comparable to pharmacologic therapy in both effect size and temporality. Additionally, reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure to the degree found in yoga interventions were associated with reductions in vascular death rates as well as decreased overall cardiac risk.

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